The Rise of the Lost
by Shadowofmylife40
Summary: When old friends return unexpectedly, a new foe arose. Can Shadow defeat the Reflector and keep his friends safe or will he have to pay the ultimate price when doing so? All characters belong to Sega except for the Reflector and the Life Swapper who belong to me. R&R.
1. Chapter 1 Old Friends Reunite

**The Rise of the Lost**

A place of shattered dreams. A place where the river arched and time didn't exist. That is where this story begins...

Standing in a ray from the golden sun was a midnight black hedgehog with a blood red streak on his spines. His fuzzy white chest damp with tears, crimson red eyes filled with sorrow and his fists clenched but not firmly. The hedgehog seemed not to know nor care about this; he just stared at the gravestone. Inscripted were the words 'RIP Maria Robotnik'. Another tear rolled down his face.

"My promise to you comes first" he spoke with no emotion "But when they hunt me down, I shall fight like I always have done".

Suddenly, some of the bushes surrounding the place rustled, interrupting the emotional scene. Another hedgehog appeared, similar in shape and size. Spines on end and glistening amber eyes. Cuffs with a repeated design around his wrists and above his boots. His gloves had a different pattern and his boots looked like they were more than boots. He had some neck fur and his body was an iron colour.

"Shadow!" he exclaimed "There you are! Have you seen the news?! I've been trying to contact you all day!"

Shadow, back turned, wiped away a tear harshly. When he spoke it sounded like the person who was crying never really existed. "There was a reason why my communicator was off, Silver. This better be important. What happened?"

Silver folded his arms."Oh only that Sonics lost his mind, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge have all been captured, Blaze returned with someone..."Silver listed with a sarcastic tone in his voice

"Hmph" thought Shadow while Silver spoke "Why is it always his love life?"

"And" Silver continued sarcastically "Five emeralds have been stolen. Why?" There was a pause which lasted about 3 seconds in real life.

Shadow broke the silence and turned to Silver "I've got an emerald. You?"

Silver pulled out and emerald from behind his back "What do you think?"

There was another awkward silence that Shadow broke "Tell me how Sonic went doo-lally."

Silver replied "Sonic was doing Sonic stuff. He got distracted by someone who altered his memories or something like that." Another silence followed the answer

"Umm... Shadow, you need to follow me. It's important."

"It better be" Shadow replied with no interest "It's probably more on his love life..."Shadow thought.

Silver zoomed into the bushes. Shadow started to follow but turned back

"I hope you understand..." he whispered then reluctantly followed Silver.

"Hi Blaze!" said Silver to the smaller of two figures that stood in the surrounding area with a very chipper voice. "Now, can you tell me who you are?" he enquired the taller one. She was a beautiful blond 12 year old with dark blue eyes. She was wearing a hair band that was the exact colour as her dark eyes, a silky short sleeved top and a wavy dress in all the possible shades of shuffled into view, looked up and stared. Swiftly, Shadow casually walked to the nearest building and then after about 15 seconds stepped out from behind the building. Silver hastily wandered towards Shadow

"Erm Shadow...?" Silver asked uncertainly

"Am I dreaming or hallucinating" Shadow demanded sharply.

The taller figure took a step closer to Shadow "Neither, Shadow. Long time no see."

Shadow's mouth was slightly open at this point. Once he gained control over himself again, he stood up straight (for his back was arched). "Excuse me one moment" Shadow proposed and then glided away on his rocket shoes.

"What was THAT about?!" Silver yelled.

The tallest figure spoke again "It's probably a shock for Shadow because he saw me die. I'm Maria Ro-"

"Oh...THAT story." Silver interrupted "He's mentioned it once or twice. You should talk to him. He has no idea what's going on." Maria headed in the same direction Shadow left. Blaze took a few steps towards Silver. Her fur was a lilac colour but it was much darker around her tail and hair which she kept up in a red band. She was wearing a violet coat, a golden necklace, white gloves and dark pink shoes. Around her gloves and shoes were fuzzy white cuffs.

"I don't know much about Shadow's past" she admitted "Care to explain?"

"Well..." Silver started hesitantly "It all started about 50 years ago..."

At the secret hideout, Shadow was pacing up and down. "Ok," he thought "Maria just appears and how do I act? Like me today. Not me back then... What is she doing here? I've got so many questions...Where to start..."

In the distance, he could only just hear Maria calling his name.

"Come on! You can do it! You're Shadow the hedgehog! The Ultimate Life Form! The Black Blur!" Shadow skated away to find Maria, cool air blowing ferociously in his face.


	2. Chapter 2 Unsung Hero

**Chapter 2**

"Shadow?!" Maria called "Shadow?!" She yelled a little louder "Shad-Argh!"

Swatbots leaped from nowhere surrounding Maria. They began to draw closer like a lioness hunting a gazelle... Unexpectedly, a wind rapidly arose, creating something very similar to a tornado but a lot weaker. Instead of a normal tornado colour, it was a midnight black. It then abruptly stopped. From the cloud of dust, a hedgehog appeared.

"Boy," it spoke "did you choose the wrong hedgehog to mess with!" He jumped up high enough so he was above their heads and leapt on their heads in a ball. This happened so quickly the hedgehog was nothing but a black blur.

Maria gazed in wonder at her hero. The strongest robot was not yet destroyed "Who are you?" it buzzed weakly

"I'm Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog!" Shadow declared and destroyed it with a single kick. Shadow turned to Maria "Are you alright?"

"Yes..." She panted "I'd...I never thought I'd see you again Shadow... especially not like that!"

Shadow tried to look determined and keep his cool but the tears were swelling up. He could not hold them back "I've missed you..."

Maria hugged Shadow, tears pouring down her cheeks "I've missed you too..."

Just as Shadow felt happy to show his emotions (for once) Silver appeared, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. Shadow stopped hugging Maria as soon as he appeared.

"Shadow...I think you need to switch your communicator on..." Silver advised.

Shadow pressed a series of keys on his wrist strap. The familiar voice of the GUN Commander blared from the communicator.

"Agent Shadow, this is GUN HQ. Report immediately. We want the girl..." Shadow pressed a few things on his communicator.

"They want...me?"Maria asked surprised "What for?!"

"Silver, take Maria somewhere safe. Travel in the **opposite** direction then head there." Shadow commanded.

"Ok Shadow. I trust you know what you're doing." Shadow teleported away to GUN HQ. Blaze came into view.

"Silver! Shadow is heading straight for a trap! Maria or no Maria!"

"I have to help Shadow! Take Maria to the Secret Place of Shadow." Silver dashed in the direction of GUN HQ

"This way" Blaze led Maria away.

A bright light filled the room and then faded away.

"Why do you make your entrances so flashy Shadow?" A tall but wide person in a smart uniform ordered the creature that had emerged from the bright light to tell him.

"You're calling my entrances flashy?! What are Sonic's'?"Shadow said with no emotion but still getting his point across.

"Stop changing the subject Shadow. Where's the girl, Shadow?"

"I have no idea what you're on about" Shadow stated which wasn't true.

"You know exactly what I'm on about!"

"I don't know anything!"

"Stop lying Shadow!"

"You're sure you're not getting me confused with another hedgehog?"

"This is no time for games Shadow!"

At that point, Silver arrived in a blazing, neon green light. "Quit bugging Shadow!"

"Chaos control!" Shadow shouted, his voice filling the room. Another blinding light followed and in a couple of seconds, the hedgehogs had gone.

"Ya know commander, I don't think you're gonna get anything out of him" a soldier stated helpfully

"You think I don't know that?!" the commander spat utterly disgusted. _I'll get you to talk Shadow..._


	3. Chapter 3 The 'Try to Impress' Comp

**Chapter 3**

At long last, the two hedgehogs' teleported into a place filled with darkness. Ragged curtains covered the windows and old newspapers coated a wooden table. There was also a single armchair that looked practically new, a maroon carpet and a flat screen TV. The whole room looked, overall, shabby and not used. "Blaze? Maria?" Silver's voice slightly echoed. He couldn't see anyone in the darkness.

"Shadow?" a soft voice spoke.

"You really need some lighting in here, Shadow" Silver decided gazing around in the darkness. He saw an outline of a table lamp and used his psychokinetic powers to bring light to the room.

"Silver, Shadow? You need to see this." Blaze decided and switched on the TV.

"Shad SOS Green Base" Blared the TV. A blue hedgehog kept yelling the words.

"See? Told you Sonic went doo-lally. He must've gotten hit too hard by one of Eggman's robots." Silver was certain this was the reason. A short silence followed.

"It's code..." Shadow finally said "Blaze, write it down"

"But why? It's just nonsense..." Blaze started

"Just do it. You'll understand" Shadow said, pacing up and down.

"Ok... Done!" said Blaze while she scribbled something on a bit of paper she had found by the lamp. "I think we need a break."

"_Fine,"_ thought Shadow "_Probably an excuse to be with Silver" _

Blaze continued "Coming Silver?" Silver nodded and they both walked out of the door, hand in hand when Shadow and Maria couldn't see.

"Erm..." Shadow started "I'd like to show you around Maria..."

"Sure, Shadow. I guess loads of things change in fifty years!" Maria stated which was completely true. They both walked out of the same door Silver and Blaze did a little while ago.

Shadow and Maria were back in the city where Shadow found out Maria was alive. It was a beautiful city with huge skyscrapers, humungous blocks of flats and patches of lush green grass with the occasional tree. The strange thing about it though was it wasn't noisy or crowded. In fact, no one actually lived there; it was simply deserted.

"So..." said Shadow, breaking the forever silence, his voice slightly echoing "Where would you like to start?"

Maria suddenly became really shy; shuffling her feet "I want to start by asking you what happened when you came to Earth..."

"Oh...Erm...Well..." Shadow had, without warning, become very hot and sweaty "My memories were altered by the Professor. He made me think you wanted revenge and then I was put in suspense animation for about 50 years" Maria gasped. Shadow decided to continue even though he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. "The Doctor then awoke me. He is the grandson of the Professor. I agreed to help him take over the world because I thought you wanted revenge and because he set me free. So I went around stealing chaos emeralds. I stole this one from a bank."Shadow held up the green emerald that glistened in the sun. "I framed someone who looks a lot like me for doing it. Then we had to go onto the ARK and it would destroy the earth. There I finally found out your true wish. To protect humanity. I then turned super and defeated a Biolizard that was pulling the ARK toward Earth. At the end of the battle, I fell down to Earth and everyone thought I was dead. But what they didn't know was that the Doctor built a robot that saved me. Then it was back to stasis. A friend of mine, Rouge, reawakened me and this robot started to attack me. I saved Rouge although I had no idea who she was. I couldn't remember anything except for my name and brief images of you. The robot who is called E-123 Omega, Rouge and I form Team Dark. I didn't come up with the name...That is just a part of what happened...Maria? What are you doing here?"

Maria paused "I'm here for a reason but I cannot say" an awkward silence followed

"Do you want to do anything here?"Shadow asked "No..." answered Maria. Another silence followed. "I want to show you something" Maria and Shadow said at the same time

"You go first Maria..." Shadow said, a hint of sheepishness in his voice.

"Ok Shadow! This way! I hope it's still there..."

Where Maria went was stunning. It was a bit like some sort of private island. A tree covered in cherry blossoms was in the centre of the 'island'. Shadow couldn't help but remember the times he had spent on Space colony ARK with Maria, looking out of that window staring at Earth and the stars.

"Nice isn't it, Shadow?" Maria sighed longingly.

"It's beautiful." Shadow cracked the faintest smile.

"Shadow...I won't be here forever...I'm gonna have to go..." Maria owned up regretfully.

"Not yet...Please not yet..." Shadow pleaded. He wanted to be with Maria again so badly that he would do almost anything.

"Not yet" Maria confirmed "But when I do go, please come back here."

"I will." Shadow promised.

"There was something you wanted to show me, wasn't there?" Maria smiled at Shadow

"Oh..."Shadow was taken aback "It's nothing...It will never compare to this..." Maria looked at Shadow straight in the eyes. It was the first time they had done that in 50 years. "Show me anyway, Shadow"


	4. Chapter 4 What's that? Is it a monster?

**Chapter 4**

They were at least 250m above the ground...the night sky illuminating the very tops of the buildings. Below them, hundreds of people looked like a swarm of bees in slow motion and the cars were like ants, scuttling in lines.

"It's not amazing but it's a great view... I used to take detours away from the Doctor here... Something back then felt... Familiar... in a way..." Shadow's voice drifted off.

"Remember when we used to run off in the ARK having all those adventures?" Maria sighed longingly. Shadow chuckled at the memories. Shadow quickly thought up an idea, a mischievous glint danced in his eyes. He couldn't travel to the past without Chaos Control, but why not bring those times back? He gave her shoulder a quick tap and started to skate towards the opposite side of the building they were on. Maria got the idea straight away and giggled. Shadow smiled._ I'm going to make the most of it while it lasts. _When Maria was about an inch away from him, Shadow cut the corner of the building but Maria's reflex's were not as quick as Shadow's.

"You're-Argh!" she yelled expecting to feel Shadow's shoulder. Instead, she ran straight off of the highest building!

"Maria!" Shadow shouted, fear written all over him. A ray of light as blinding as the most dazzling star in the sky covered Shadow and within a few seconds, he was on a speeding yellow cab heading directly below the spot Maria would fall. Shadow held up his arms and caught Maria as if it was just a crazy suicide stunt. The taxi juddered to a halt and cameras clicked at Shadow and Maria.

"That's $20 for the ride" the cab driver seemed to be joking.

"Too much publicity! Let's go!" Shadow hollered over the noise of the crowd and teleported away with Maria.

"What about my dosh?!" demanded the cab driver angrily. He was clearly not joking.

Shadow and Maria teleported into the Secret Place of Shadow. It was still alit from an hour or two earlier.

"Thanks Shadow...thank you for saving my life" Maria panted and Shadow nodded. Suddenly the door swung open so hard the hinges nearly broke away from the wall. Shadow and Maria turned their heads sharply to find Blaze dripping with sweat and gasping for air.

"Shadow, Silver's in trouble! He barely got away alive!"

"Silver?" Shadow said with surprise and confusion. "Show me!" Blaze led Shadow away leaving Maria alone.

_I don't trust Silver or Blaze much...She was shifty from the start...Looks like I'm gonna have to follow them... _

After a few moments, she ran stealthily after Blaze and Shadow, wishing to know if it was a trap or the truth...

It was filled with flames and old abandoned buildings...It never shined and even if it did the sky would still be blocked out with the smoke and ashes. A tall person loomed over a fallen grey hedgehog, battered and with countless slashes. The person had a similar hairstyle to the hedgehog and wore shades that looked like science goggles. Also, he wore something that was exactly like chainmail except he only wore it around his ribcage and back. In addition, he had arm pads and kneepads, a belt with a symbol similar to a scarab, some sort of rope around his limbs and white running shoes. Everything he was wearing was either white or a light grey and if you split him in half, the halves would be identical except for flipped.

"And now..." He said, his voice was deep and cold "To end you...Silver the Hedgehog" he drew his hand back to do something dreadful...Suddenly, Shadow appeared out of nowhere like he did when he saved Sonic from Silver.

"Leave this to me, Silver" whispered Shadow. Silver, with the last of his strength, gave a quick nod and his body went limp.

"You shall pay for what you have done." Shadow said, lifting his head up.

"Who are you?" demanded the creature that resembled a human. Shadow stood up and folded his arms.

"I'm Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog!"

The creature went down on one knee, fist on his heart and head bowed."My Lord."

Shadow took a step back looking completely bewildered _Lord?! No...It can't be... _Shadow turned around "Everyone! Get out of here!"

Maria saw everything from behind a pile of rocks _Great (!) How do I get out of here? There is only one thing to do..._ Maria waved her arms in the air trying to get Shadow's attention. "Shadow!" She called.

"Maria!" Shadow shouted in surprise, shock and the tiniest hint of anger. He teleported to Maria, then to Silver and then to Blaze and within half a second they were gone...

"Finally..." said the creature "We can complete the work we started..."


	5. Chapter 5 'Is your name Stan'

**Chapter 5**

The gang of two hedgehogs, a human and a cat teleported into a house decorated with futuristic things. It was the same sort of layout as the Secret Place of Shadow except it wasn't dull or dark. It was actually a nice little place except like the Secret Place of Shadow, not used. Shadow picked up Silver and laid him on the nearby sofa.

"Leave Silver to me, you guys!" Blaze was determined.

"Just make sure he's better" Shadow told her emotionlessly "Maria and I will go to the Secret Place of Shadow." Blaze studied Silver for a bit

"Silver should be better tomorrow..." A dazzling light filled the room and the next thing Blaze knew, Shadow and Maria were gone...

"Urgh..." groaned Silver "Where am I?"

"You're in your house Silver." Blaze said softly

"So I'm not dead?! Yes!"

"You're not dead but that doesn't mean you're better!"

"I can talk. I bet I can sit up and walk right out of here!" Silver sat up quickly "ARGH! Fine, I guess your right"

Shadow and Maria teleported into the Secret Place of Shadow.

"Shadow, I need to talk to you..." Maria began.

"Me too..." Shadow said.

Maria shifted uneasily "I don't trust Blaze or Silver much but if you do then I will too."

Shadow looked Maria in her deep blue eyes. "Silver's my friend. I know I didn't show it but I was shocked. Silver doesn't get beaten up that easily... Unless it's by me" Shadow admitted and gave a soft laugh.

Maria didn't find it funny and decided to change the subject "Why don't you ever show how you feel, Shadow?"

Shadow paused. He knew perfectly well why he didn't show his feelings but he wasn't sure his excuse would be good enough."I...I don't know." He lied "Do you know that... Thing?"

Maria looked at Shadow seriously "Shadow I know what you saw then but it must remain a secret for now."

Shadow tilted his head a fraction "Why?" he questioned.

"Terrible things will happen..." Maria answered. She looked at him with those big blue eyes knowing that Shadow would do as she asked.

"There is something I need to do" Shadow said "You should stay here..."

Maria stared at Shadow in surprise "Why? What are you gonna do?" "I think I may have found a tail...And it's best if I go alone under the cover of night"

Maria understood. Shadow probably didn't have time for all those little games they used to play and had real life threatening adventures. "Be careful, Shadow."

Shadow was back in GUN HQ. He was expecting to find the commander ordering soldiers around mercilessly. Instead, he found a single soldier watching a bunch of computer screens and drinking a cup of coffee. The soldier turned his swivel chair to face Shadow. It turned out to be the same soldier that was talking to the commander after Shadow left.

"Hey Shadow!" he said cheerfully. He was quite glad the commander wasn't there.

"Where's the commander?" Shadow demanded the soldier coldly to tell him.

"In the freezer." The soldier answered. He laughed and Shadow managed a smirk.

"Seriously now, where is he?"

"I ain't joking Shadow. He's in the freezer. Me and the others decided he needed a cool off after the way he treated you"

"You sure you have a freezer big enough?" Shadow joked "I mean he is quite..."

"Yeah" The soldier interrupted "When he was put in charge, we all weren't sure about him. One of us suggested that we should get a freezer and put him in there when he goes too far and he's crossed the line... Do you know how she came back, Shadow? I mean I didn't think you did back then but do you...?"

"No...Make sure no-one contacts me unless I contact you lot...I think I'm onto something Stan..."

The soldier stared in awe "How did you know my name was Stan?!"

Shadow looked in surprise "Is Stan your name? Lucky guess I spose." Stan wished Shadow luck and went back to drinking his coffee. _He's one hell of a mystery...I hope he gets what he's looking for..._


	6. Chapter 6 Are you the real one?

**Chapter 6**

Five seconds later, Shadow arrived at Silver's house "Blaze?" he asked and wandered around in the turquoise light

"Shadow!" Silver yelled with joy. He would have run over to meet Shadow but he could only just sit up without hurting himself let alone walk.

"How are you?" Shadow looked at Silver. His cuts were barely visible but anyone could tell he was still in a lot of pain. Silver looked at his body where the major injuries were.

"Alive I think... Where's Blaze?"

Shadow was so surprised that Silver was asking him he could have slapped himself or ask Silver to repeat the question in his good ear but because that would be stupid, he said "Wait you don't know either?"

"Speak of the devil... Or would it be deviless?" Silver questioned Shadow.

"Nice welcome Silver (!)" Blaze told him sarcastically. She changed her tone. "Shadow! How've you been? I haven't seen you for ages!"

Shadow stated the obvious to Blaze. "You saw me today..."

"You're joking right? Well at the beginning of today with Maria and Green Hill but other than that..."

"Have a weird dream?" Shadow interrupted ignoring the fact that Silver was moaning on the sofa stained with at least a litre of blood.

Blaze put one hand on her hip. "Now you mention it... A weird villain..." "Who reflects your movements." Silver, Shadow and Blaze said in sync.

"But how did you..." Blaze started completely shocked.

Shadow kept cool "We had a run in with him as you can tell" He pointed to Silver.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can we name him? I wanna call him Super-weird-mirror-guy-that's-invincible-and-can-kill-you!" Silver gabbled like an over excited kid, listing all the presents they wanted for Christmas.

"He already has a name" Shadow informed Silver "He's called the Reflector."

"Pfft" Silver smirked "What kind of a name is that?! What's next the Teleporter? The Hoverer-er? Oh I don't know how you'd say it."

"Ok someone will have to tell me what's going on here." Blaze started to tap her foot. Shadow didn't exactly want to stay and talk about the Reflector and especially because Maria told him bad things would happen if he told them about him.

"I need to go." Shadow decided and teleported turned to Silver.

"Don't look at me. I'm ill, remember?" Silver said truthfully and had no idea about who the Reflector was. The only person that he knew who had quite a bit of knowledge about the Reflector was Shadow.


	7. Chapter 7 Day 1 Completed

**Chapter 7**

When Shadow teleported in, a smile appeared on Maria's face and a light glistened in her eyes. "Hey Shadow! Find anything out?"

"You were right not to trust Blaze. At least no after Green Hill" Shadow informed Maria

"So after Green Hill...that wasn't Blaze?" Maria was quite curious about this. "It did seem a bit suspicious of her wandering off for a minute then coming back with a completely different look about her."

Shadow nodded to signify he understood what Maria meant "It's late... we should get some rest"

Maria looked around her and Shadow. There were some stairs but they looked really unsafe, rickety, and old. Not to mention covered in cobwebs. She didn't know what was upstairs. She thought that there was a bedroom and some other things but not another room. From what she could tell, Shadow didn't like company that much. Maybe he didn't like her that much? Maybe he had changed so much their friendship may have been forgotten...

"Maria" Shadow interrupted her thoughts "There is a guest room that hasn't been used opposite my room. You could use that if you like or have you got your own place?"

"No I don't have my own place. I arrived today. Thanks Shadow." Maria froze up. "Are you sure those stairs are safe?"

"Yes. They are completely safe. I promise" promised Shadow. Shadow walked up and down the stairs several times to prove his point. Maria giggled at Shadow when he started to jump like a maniac on the bottom step.

"Ok! Ok! I think we've established that they're safe!" She laughed and followed him upstairs. It was as bad as it was downstairs. Maria was starting to wonder if Shadow actually knew what a house was. The wooden railings were bent completely out of shape and the corridors looked like something from Luigi's haunted mansion. The only thing that looked normal were two doors opposite each other. They were polished and it seemed like they had never been used. Shadow opened the door on the right and it creaked open. It seemed to be the first time he had done this like a normal person.

Maria headed for the door on the left and opened it a jar. She turned her head and gazed at Shadow. "Thanks. Goodnight Shadow."

"Goodnight Maria" Shadow replied. Maria was back and Sonic was out of his way. He just hoped that the Reflector wouldn't do anymore damage but he knew that was impossible. That was like asking the Moon to stop its circuit around the Earth.


	8. Chapter 8 Memories that haunt

**Chapter 8**

Shadow was running down what seemed like an endless corridor. He kept looking behind him in case they were gaining on him. He had to find Maria. There were men with guns firing in all directions killing anyone who got in their way. He had to find Maria and tell her about what was going on. These must be some of the bad people on Earth Maria sometimes talked about when he questioned her about what it was like on Earth and if all the people there were nice. After 30 seconds he saw her. She was dressed in her usual outfit. Blue skirt, blue top, blue shoes and blue hair band. Her golden hair was loose and wavy as always.

Maria saw Shadow running up to her occasionally turning his head around and shouting "Maria!"

"Shadow?" Maria asked "What's wrong?" She was confused to see her friend like this. She couldn't quite figure out why Shadow was so troubled.

"Earth's soldiers!" Shadow was still running "They've got the Prof!"

"Grandfather? Why?" Maria shouted with frustration.

Shadow had stopped running when he reached her and said quietly "Do you think they want me?"

"That would make sense..." Maria whispered. She grabbed his hand and sprinted down the corridor with soldiers following just behind them. Maria reached a panel, input a code as fast as she could and dashed inside as the doors slid open. Maria shoved Shadow into the single escape pod. A few soldiers managed to follow them in.

"Maria!" cried Shadow uselessly.

There was a gunshot that made the whole room vibrate. Maria looked where her hand was. Her side was stained with blood.

"Shadow...Promise me you'll..."

"Shadow?" Maria was shaking Shadow as hard as she could "Shadow!" Shadow was lying on a square bed, face down.

"Maria..." groaned Shadow in his sleep with Maria still shaking him. "Mari-Argh!" Shadow opened his eyelids sharply and revealed his angry red eyes.

"Shadow?" Maria was confused. She thought that he must have had a nightmare but what about? The Reflector wasn't as strong as deadliest enemies...

"Every day...It haunts me...Your death..." Shadow answered Maria's question without her saying a word.

Maria was quite surprised at this. After all this time...He still did remember and care about her "Sorry?" She suggested. It wasn't her fault that she got shot.

"It's not your fault..." Shadow was very understanding about this. He sometimes wished that Maria was in the pod instead. "Wait...did you need something?"

"No..." Maria replied "But I could hear you yelling my name..." It was true. Maria was already awake when she heard Shadow yelling her name like he was mad.

Shadow felt very guilty. Yes, her death haunted him but he didn't always have dreams about it. He hadn't had a dream about that day on the ARK for as long as he could remember."Sorry...Do you want to do anything so I can make it up to you?" Shadow paused _I'm probably gonna regret this _"Shopping maybe?"

Maria wasn't really fussed about where Shadow took her as long as they were together for a bit without Silver or Blaze. Now she knew the truth about them, she was ok but she still wanted a little bit of time with Shadow. "Ok!" Maria smiled warmly. Anywhere was fine...

When Shadow and Maria teleported into the middle of the town, she stared in awe. The shops were not in rows. Instead they were in a 'u' shape. They all seemed to be connected with some colourful bunting. She sat down on the huge fountain that had to be the icing on the cake next to Shadow who was smiling a smile that he hadn't smiled since before the incident on the ARK. Maria turned her head left and right. Everyone there had their mouths wide open and some even dropped their shopping!

Maria lent a little closer to Shadow "Why are they staring at us?"

"Because I'm smiling, I never come here, they don't think I'm social and you're with me" Shadow listed "Let's prove they're wrong!"

"Ok Shadow!"Maria said triumphantly "Let's go there first!" She pointed at the rightmost shop. Shadow walked over to the shop holding Maria's hand and opened the door for her_ Shopping... Whop-dee-doo (!) How I love it (!)_


	9. Chapter 9 Shopping

**Chapter 9**

As soon as Shadow and Maria set foot in the shop everyone stared, opened their mouths and dropped their shopping like the people outside. Some shuffled nervously away and tried to hide at the back of the shop.

_After all these years of helping Sonic...They still fear me... _Shadow reflected. Maria was looking very uncomfortable at that precise moment and looked at Shadow hoping he could do something.

"Erm...hello!" Shadow started "Continue what you're doing everyone! Nothing to see here!"

After 15 seconds of staring at Shadow and Maria the frozen people moved again.

"Well that was rude!" Maria whispered to Shadow. She supposed that they didn't know her. Shadow seemed to be the centre of attention but he wouldn't be here if it weren't Maria. Something blue caught her eye before she gave Shadow a chance to reply."Ooh that looks nice!" She exclaimed walking over to a dress. She studied it for a while "It looks like one I had on the ARK!"She spotted another dress "So dose that!"

While that was happening Shadow lurked in the shadow of a clothes rack. He didn't really want anyone but Maria to see him smiling. Anyway if the humans saw him smiling they'd probably put a photo or video on the internet. Unlike Sonic, Shadow wanted to keep his profile as low as possible.

One of the customers saw Shadow and called her friend over. "Have you ever seen him smile?"

"Nope..."the other said "But let's keep it that way. He isn't Sonic and this will only last 5 minutes max"

Maria approached the clerk who just happened to be the owner of the shop. "How much for all of this?" She asked politely.

"Well... Because you-know-who is smiling... That can be your payment." The owner decided.

Maria looked at him gratefully "Wow, thanks!" Maria was secretly pleased about this. She didn't have any money on her and Shadow hadn't picked up a wallet or anything like that. Maria picked up the bag of clothes and turned to find Shadow. But before she could take a step towards him something blocked her way. A swirling grey tornado came out of no-where automatically making everyone except Shadow take a few steps back. From the heart of the tornado emerged the creature they had met yesterday. The Reflector.

Shadow raised his voice so the whole plaza could hear it from outside "Everyone get out" He roared.

"He's right! That thing is really dangerous!" Maria added supporting Shadow but felt that she needed to leave as well.

The terrified customers and Maria fled out of the door like a swarm of bees. The shop was left deserted apart from Shadow and the Reflector.

"Look how pathetic they are!" noted the Reflector "Look how pathetic you have become..."

Shadow remained silent. Usually he'd retort back but Shadow chose not to.

"You fear me don't you?"

"Why would I fear you?" Shadow demanded

"I could feel it last night... You fear me... You fear for this world...and..." He made sure Shadow was holding onto every word he said "Your girlfriend."

Shadow could feel himself blushing slightly but it somehow didn't show on his face "She isn't my girlfriend..."

The Reflector smirked "I hoped you would say that..."

"I still wish to destroy humanity..." He added quickly.

The Reflector nodded "I can still feel the hatred within you. But you will have to prove where you alignments lie..."

"Fine... You've put them there haven't you?"

"Same hideout..."

"Meet me there later today... I'll bring something you'll enjoy" The Reflector bowed in the same manner as he usually would to Shadow and left in another tornado.

Shadow hesitated before he opened the doors to let the customers flood back in. He remembered meeting the Reflector before but he couldn't figure out when or where. Shadow sighed, reached for the door and pulled it open.A few people nervously crept inside including the clerk and Maria.

"Shadow! What happened?" She sounded a bit like Sonic. Curious and free.

"No idea." Shadow lied. He knew exactly what was going on "Want to do anything else here?"

"No..." Maria replied. She may like shopping but Shadow had things to do. It wasn't everyday you have an adventure.

"Ok" Shadow sighed. Surprisingly, he was enjoying the shopping trip. He felt for Maria's hand and held it as if it was a chaos emerald. "Chaos control!"


	10. Chapter 10 Plan A

**Chapter 10**

Shadow teleported into the Secret Place of Shadow with Maria. Shadow looked around and saw what Silver meant. He did need some lighting and planned to get some once the Reflector business was completed.

"I am going to see how Silver is doing." announced Shadow "Do you want to come?"

"I'm good Shadow." Maria denied "But give me an update once you've seen him" Maria figured that Shadow wouldn't always have time for her unlike the times on the ARK. If she got used to not seeing him as often maybe it would hurt less.

"Sure. Chaos control!"

Shadow teleported into a brightly lit room and paused for a while. He knew that he would defeat the Reflector as he did so before but now wasn't the time to dwell on the past. In fact there isn't a time to dwell on it. Not if you're Shadow.

"Silver? Blaze?" Shadow asked.

"Right here." answered Silver

"Right on." Blaze added.

Shadow raised his eyebrows "That's a name of a song... Why do you do that?!"

Silver shrugged and went back to playing a video game. "You still play my game?" Shadow stared at the TV screen.

Silver pressed a few buttons "I'm showing Blaze about your 'Past life' as she likes to call it."

"So you're ok to run about and walk?"

"I'm fine Shadow."

"Good. Had a run in with the Reflector..." Silver put down the console because he lost a life and was shocked to hear this. He started to laugh "You are joking!" Shadow stared at Silver without blinking and arms folded. "You are not joking!" decided Silver.

"I have two plans" Shadow said "I hope the first one works..."

Blaze became interested and Silver became very serious "Ok...What is it?"

"We go to..." Shadow started and stopped abruptly. He remembered something he wished not to remember.

"Shadow?" Blaze asked.

Shadow breathed heavily "Do you remember... Crisis City...?"

Silver exchanged looks with Blaze and looked at Shadow as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "Don't you remember? I got beaten up there!"

Shadow shook his head sadly "No...Years ago...Mephiles... Solaris...Iblis..."

Silver's eyes widened "Yeah... I remember...Now back to the plan!"

"We go to Crisis City and fight him... Only this time we will be more powerful..." Shadow clenched his fist.

"Worth a shot" Silver muttered "Plan B?"

Shadow said something. Once Silver understood, he looked at Shadow as if he was a celebrity on his doorstep.

"You can't do that!" Blaze protested.

Shadow sighed "It's the only option if Plan A doesn't work..."

"Then Plan A has to work!" Silver shouted confidently as if he were a general in an army "Are you going to tell Maria?"

"Yes..." replied Shadow. If Maria got suspicious, Shadow would want her to know the truth instead of a bunch of lies. "Coming?"

"Not now... I think Maria hates us" said Blaze.

Silver looked at Blaze as if she were mad "But..." Blaze gave Silver a stare that silenced him "Oh yeah! She hates us Shadow."

Shadow brought his hand to his head "You two are really bad actors... Chaos control!"

Once Shadow had teleported away, Silver turned to Blaze. "Should we start taking drama classes? To have drama classes or not to have drama classes? That is the question..."

Maria's face lit up when a light filled the room and Shadow emerged from it. She got up from the armchair and switched the TV off. "Ok. What happened?" Maria wanted to know all the details.

Shadow smiled for half a second before answering "Me and Silver are going up against the Reflector. The plan better work..."

"Plan B?" Maria asked without meaning to. She didn't know if there even was a Plan B. Shadow repeated what he had said in Silver's house and Maria's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Then you have to win!"

Shadow broke into a smile briefly before teleporting away.

Maria sat down quickly with her head in her hands. "He can't do that!" Maria's muffled voice spoke. "He'll get himself killed! The first plan has to work!"

"Blaze?" Silver asked when Shadow teleported in.

Shadow walked over to Silver "Just me." "I can't do it... Blaze and me..."

"Blaze and you what?" interrupted Shadow

"Had an argument..." Silver muttered and Shadow sighed "We'll sort it out once we've tried Plan A. We don't have time for distractions."

Silver snorted "You can talk!"

"Let's just finish this. Chaos control!"

Shadow and Silver arrived in Crisis City. The Reflector loomed ahead of them, grinning.

"I've been expecting you..." He began mysteriously.

Silver blocked out the next bit the Reflector said although it was fairly important. "Blah, Blah, Blah!" Silver imitated a mouth with his hand "Skip the babble and cut to the battle!"

The Reflector chuckled "As you wish... Silver the Hedgehog!"

Neither Silver nor the Reflector noticed Shadow giving Silver a worried look.

"Chaos blast!" Yelled Shadow and a ball of light hit the Reflector in his chest area.

Silver ran up to the Reflector and used a sequence of punches and kicks shouting "Take this!" as he did so.

Shadow took a step forward knowing it would have no affect but still used chaos spear which hit the Reflector in his chest area again.

_Why isn't he attacking the Reflector like he usually would? More importantly why isn't the Reflector attacking us? _Silver thought as he hit the Reflectors jaw.

The Reflector grabbed Silver and threw him aside. He clearly had enough messing around. "Is that all?" He asked and let Silver to stand up next to Shadow. "Allow me to demonstrate..." He raised both hands in front of him and took a step back so he looked a lot like Silver using his powers. He somehow managed to create a sonic boom which was very impressive. Silver fell on the ground but somehow, Shadow was still standing.

"Wha-" Silver said in awe looking at Shadow. It was one thing if he managed to teleport but another if he stood there unaffected.

"My powers cannot affect my lord..." The Reflector stared at Shadow. Shadow felt worried now but didn't show it. "Chaos control!" He shouted and teleported away with Silver.

"Good acting, Shadow..." The Reflector told Shadow even though Shadow wasn't there. "Almost looked real..."


	11. Chapter 11 Clones

**Chapter 11**

Silver and Shadow arrived in the secret hideout, undetected.

"What just happened?!" Silver roared at Shadow "What does he mean by Lord?!"

Shadow looked away from Silver "I can't say..."

Silver lowered his voice "Ok...Will we need Sonic?"

"For my final act, yes"

Silver faced Shadow "You weren't joking... You're gonna sacrifice yourself?"

"Maybe..." Unexpectedly, Blaze entered the Secret hideout.

"Blaze..." Silver started "I'm so sorry..."

Blaze looked at Silver as if he was insane "For what?"

Silver slapped his forehead "Not again!"

Blaze looked at Silver and then to Shadow "Am I missing something?"

"He's found your weakness." Shadow told Silver "Only you can tell who the real Blaze is..."

Another cat, identical to Blaze strolled in "What the...?"

"One's a fake!" Shadow shouted "You have to destroy one!"

Silver became sweaty "What?!" he asked bewildered "Wait...Ha!" Silver used his power to strike down both Blazes' and instantly shattered into a thousand pieces.

"That's all of the clones..." Shadow confirmed Silver was astonished "How do you...?"

"The Reflector... Hint, hint."

"I get it!" Silver raised his arm and stuck a finger up "But...does that mean...She's dead?!"

"No..." Shadow wasn't concerned one bit "Even though he's called the Reflector and a mirror reflects 1, his style is to make two clones not 1... So she's still out there..."

Silver paused. He had one childish question he had to know the answer to. "If you die anytime soon and we need you... Is there a way to bring you back?"

"You might be able to with the chaos emeralds...Or...If you need me that badly you could ask...The Life Swapper..."

"The who?!"

"The Life Swapper"

Silver looked like Luke Triton trying to solve a puzzle. "Let me guess... Someone's life in exchange for yours?" Silver was very sarcastic even though it was a situation that could mean the destruction of the world.

Shadow continued "For me it has to be someone who has already died and someone who exists in another dimension..."

"Like Sonic and...Well anyone really...Do parallel universes count?" Silver wondered aloud.

_This is going to go on all day..._ Thought Shadow. "You should find Blaze..."

"Fine...This conversation isn't over!" Yelled Silver as he dashed through some shrubbery to leave.

Shadow sighed _Will they understand why I have to do this?_ Shadow followed Silver out after a few minutes.


	12. Chapter 12 Bases and Bogmonsters!

**Chapter 12**

_Flashback_

"Are you ready my Lord?" He whispered to me. He had a spiky hairdo and crazy clothes.

An evil smirk formed across my face. I had waited for this day my entire life. Time had somehow been muddled up so Romans and futuristic people walked on the same earth. We had gathered the seven chaos emeralds and absorbed their dark energy. The best way to destroy these humans was to destroy time on their planet all at once. The past, present and future were now one.I drew back my hand, created an electric orb and threw it where a huddle of humans were...

_Present day..._

"Well?" Maria asked anxiously when an ebony black hedgehog teleported in "Did you do it? Did you get rid of him?

" _"__If I tell her the truth she'll know I will have to do it and try to stop me" _Thought Shadow_ "But I could lie and tell her before I go I have to do a mission for GUN or something..."_ Shadow put on a convincing look "Me and Silver showed him."

Maria almost jumped with joy and hugged Shadow "That's great!"

"We fixed the Blaze problem." Shadow added "We ran into some clones but got rid of them. Silver is looking for the real Blaze"

"What's going to happen now?"

"We are going to get the emeralds, the Master emerald and..." "_I'm going to regret this..." _"And save Sonic." sighed Shadow

"Right! Should we find Silver?" Maria asked. She found Silver very amusing.

"Yes...He should have found Blaze by now..." Shadow pressed some keys on his wrist and spoke into his ring. "Silver? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" The communicator blared with Silver's voice "Found Blaze and tested her. She's the one. Want us to come to you, over?"

"Yes, we have to get the emeralds and help Sonic."

"You're mad my Lord!" Silver did a perfect imitation of the Reflector. "At your place, over?"

"Yeah" Shadow was quite annoyed being called 'Lord'.

"Anything else, over?"

"THESE AREN'T TOYS AND WE AREN'T COMANDOS! GOT IT?!"

"Got it...Over and out!"

Shadow pressed a series of keys as Maria drew closer to him. "Silver likes to joke?"

Shadow looked at the floor. "Yes...A lot more than usual recently..." Shadow waited patiently for the door to swing open and after two minutes it did. Silver was covered in mud and twigs unlike Blaze who looked perfectly normal.

"Don't ask..." Silver waved his finger to and fro like Sonic does.

"Where do we start?" Blaze wondered out loud.

Maria perked up a little "We could start with the clue that Sonic left us..."

"What 'Shad SOS Green base'?" Blaze asked. Shadow cracked the code which seemed like gibberish to some.

"Shad is me...Stupid nickname Sonic gave me..."

"It suits you Shadow..." Maria interrupted and Shadow blushed a little.

Silver nudged Blaze "Look!" Silver staged whispered to Blaze.

Blaze looked sternly at Silver. "You need to get that mud of you."

"Yes mum..." Silver told Blaze who was beginning to act like a mum.

Shadow ignored the conversation Silver and Blaze were having "SOS means save our souls and green base probably means a base in..."

"Green hill zone" Shadow, Silver and Blaze said as one while Maria nodded approvingly.

"Are you ok about going?" Shadow asked Maria

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" Maria smiled.

Shadow held up the green chaos emerald "Chaos control!"

They all teleported into Green hill zone. Today looked a lot more positive than yesterday even though there was no difference. The sun was still shining and cute little creatures still looked perfectly fine. It might be the fact that Shadow saved Maria that put some hope in their hearts or some other reason.

"Well..." started Silver "Where shall we start?"

"You could start by taking a bath" Blaze retorted, pointing at the surrounding water.

Maria laughed at this. "You look like a bog monster Silver!"

"We will search over there while you get cleaned up Silver." Shadow told him

"But..." Silver protested "Fine...but all the way over there!"

Maria and Blaze giggled as they walked away from Silver in search of a base...

"We still haven't found anything!" said Maria after an hour. Shadow, Maria and Blaze had searched at least a dozen bases.

Blaze stopped dead. "Do you think that one on that island is the base? The one by Silver?"

"It's possible" Shadow answered "Silver should be done by now..." Shadow picked up Maria and whizzed off before anyone could stop him. Blaze sighed and followed the Black Blur.

Silver sighed when he saw something speeding towards him. "Found it?" he asked when Shadow was in earshot.

Shadow let Maria get to her feet "No... We think it's over there." Shadow pointed at the nearest island with a dark building on it.

"Simple enough..." Silver flew over onto the island when Blaze ran next to Shadow and Maria. She jumped onto the island while Shadow and Maria teleported over. Everyone exchanged looks before entering the gloomy building which looked out of place...


	13. Chapter 13 Operation Bust Sonic Out!

**Chapter 13**

A box that looked a bit like a TV awaited them. It looked like it was a trap...

"What's that?" asked Maria. She didn't want to sound as if she didn't know anything but curiosity got the better of her.

"A message?" Silver supposed while Shadow walked towards it and pressed a big red button. _"Who wouldn't"_ thought Silver _"It's big and red and shiny... very tempting...Next time I see a button like that, No-one can stop me from pressing it!"_

The TV flickered into life and played a pre-programmed message "Hey Shadow!" The blue hedgehog on the screen said "Thought you might take the hint. It's not the Dr doing this surprisingly. It's some weird... thing that reflects everything you do..."

"Tell us something we don't know!" Silver yelled at the screen while Blaze shushed him.

"He hasn't got the emeralds..." continued Sonic "I have. If you bust me out I can get you to them. I'm not with the others I'm in area 99 so hurry up and get me outta here!"

Silver looked as if he was about to faint "Sonic? In Area 99? I can't keep up with GUN..."

"Looks like we're gonna have to bust him out..." decided Shadow.

Maria felt stupid for asking but didn't care "Who's Sonic?" Silver took a step back "You didn't tell her who Sonic is?! Sonic is the fastest thing alive! But Shadow is just as fast..." Silver added when he saw Shadow giving him a look.

Shadow took over "Sonic is my arch rival. I help him if it's to achieve my goal."

Blaze swished her tail impatiently "So are we going to save Sonic?"

"I wouldn't call it save just busting him out." Shadow told her "Let's get this over with...Chaos control!"

They arrived in what seemed like the middle of no-where.

Maria turned around "Bit of a dump..."

"But their most guarded area..." Blaze tapped her foot

"Halt!" yelled a GUN soldier in a dark green uniform. "Who goes there?"

Silver snickered "Is that some sort of routine they have to go through?"

"Do I have to show ID?" asked Shadow was getting bored of toying around

"Ye-No. Sorry Agent Shadow..."

Shadow managed to convince the soldier that the others were ok to go through. They trudged on ahead in silence waiting for something to appear.

After a little while they came up to a cage with a blue hedgehog inside.

"Finally!" he yelled when he saw Shadow.

"Don't get overexcited." Shadow retorted.

Sonic saw Maria from the corner of his eye "Who's she? Do you know her? Do you trust her?"

"Doesn't he know?" Maria asked Shadow.

Shadow nodded "Yes he does..."

Sonic grew very impatient "Are you gonna crack this thing open or not?" The cage was very weak but strong enough to hold a hedgehog like Sonic in.

Silver and Blaze noticed soldiers circling them with their guns at the ready. "Guys...we've got company..."

Shadow didn't think twice. "Chaos Blast!" the cage that held Sonic disintegrated instantly.

The soldiers shot in all directions especially at Sonic and Shadow. Shadow ran in front of Maria so his body was the only thing protecting her. Bullets bounced of Shadows body while the others ran to dodge the bullets being shot at them.

Shadow held his green chaos emerald and yelled "Chaos control" so he, Maria, Sonic, Silver and Blaze teleported away from area 99.

The whole party teleported into the Secret Place of Shadow.

"You've actually have some lighting!" Sonic noted "I'm surprised Shadow!" he began to applaud Shadow.

"I need to talk to you Sonic..." Shadow's voice drifted off.

"Straight down to business, huh?"

"In private..." Shadow added.

Silver headed for the door "Looks like that's our cue to leave guys..." Blaze followed Silver and after a few seconds hesitation, Maria did too.

"Who's the girl?" Sonic started "She _is_ pretty..."

"Maria Robotnik." Shadow growled.

Sonic was startled. "Maria? But she's..."

"Dead I know." Shadow interrupted "Blaze is from another dimension. I'm still trying to find out why Maria is here...Why were you acting insane?"

"That was to tell about what was going on. Tails managed to communicate with me and I knew I was going to need some backup. You were the obvious choice. I know it sounds crazy but that was the first idea that came to mind. Do you know the guy who reflects everything you do?"

"The Reflector? I've met him before..."

"You have? When?!"

"I don't know..." admitted Shadow "It just seems to be a memory...I was definitely on a different plane...I am his 'Lord'...There is only one way to defeat him..."

"How? I need to smash him after what he did to Tails and Amy and..."

"**I** turn super." Shadow told him "And just me...Then I use the move we have never dared use...Once I've done that I'll die...I have to sacrifice myself..."

"What?!" Sonic shouted "Does everyone else know?"

"Everyone except Maria...You can't tell her..."

Sonic nodded solemnly "I understand...What did you want me to do?"

"Say where the emeralds are...then you're gonna have to get captured again..."

Sonic exhaled "I hope you know what you're doing. The emeralds are in Metropolis, Angle Island, Rooftop run, Ocean Palace and Seaside hill."

"Follow my lead..." Shadow said mysteriously. He and Sonic teleported away in a ball of light.


	14. Chapter 14 Who's side are you on?

**Chapter 14**

As soon as Sonic and Shadow were in an unfamiliar place, Shadow brought Sonic to his knees as if he was a prisoner. There were some stairs that lead up to a throne and lounging on was the Reflector. It was a gloomy place that looked like some sort of prison without the bars.

The Reflector bowed his head "My lord...Who is this?"

Shadow kicked Sonic as close to the Reflector as possible "Sonic the Hedgehog...The plan is still in motion"

Even though no-one could see them, the Reflectors eyes widened "Very good...With the others?"

"Yes..." Shadow growled and walked over to Sonic.

"Follow me, my Lord..." The Reflector started to strut away.

"You can't tell the others..." Shadow whispered to Sonic.

"Don't mumble Sonic!" The Reflector said "Not in front of your masters!"

Sonic landed face down on the ground after Shadow had kicked him. There were a few fake groans from Sonic.

The Reflector led Shadow into a dungeon who almost dragged Sonic along with him. There were three cells and two were empty. Tails, Amy and Knuckles thought they were dreaming when they saw Sonic.

"SONIC!" Amy cried uselessly.

Tails could have slapped himself "What's he doing here?!"

"Shadow!" Knuckles shouted with rage.

Shadow shoved Sonic with no mercy in the rightmost cage and the Reflector locked it. He turned to Tails, Amy and Knuckles "With Shadow at my side and all the emeralds, we shall be invincible while you can have front row seats when you see your world crumble! HAHAHA!"

"Shadow, what does he mean?" Tails asked hoping that what he heard meant something different but the chances of that were like saying that tomorrow, the grass would turn blue and the sky green.

Amy tried a different approach by using his past "Would Maria want this?"

Shadow had his back tuned so turned around. He was going to make Amy regret what she just said. "DON'T YOU _DARE _TALK ABOUT HER! HE MEANT _EXACTLY_ WHAT HE SAID! HUMANITY WILL END AND THIS WORLD WILL BE DESTROYED! THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP US!"

At this point, Sonic wasn't sure whose side Shadow was on. He could have easily asked for the emeralds location just to absorb their negative energy. "Shadow..." Sonic was half acting half pleading "Please...Don't do it..." Sonic only just had enough strength to get on his hands and knees let alone his feet.

Shadow turned to Sonic "You snivelling hedgehog! I'm surprised you're a hero! All you do is beg! Beg for mercy!"

"You'll pay for this Shadow!" roared Knuckles. If he could he would have broken down the bars but they were far stronger than they looked. It also looked as if the metal wasn't a substance found on Earth.

"Says the echidna in a cage!" Shadow answered back to Knuckles.

As much as the Reflector was enjoying the insulting, he and Shadow had work to do. "Let's leave these pathetic creatures here my Lord." He walked up some stairs and left the door open.

Shadow went over to Sonic "Be strong Sonic and...Thanks..." Shadow told Sonic quietly. Sonic winked and stuck his thumb up but no-one except Shadow saw. Shortly after, his body went limp and lifeless even though he hadn't suffered any severe damage.

"Hmph..." were Shadow's last words before he climbed up the stairs.

"SOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNIIIIIC!" wailed Amy. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Tails and Knuckles stood like lemons until Tails said "He's not dead...He's still breathing..."

"I'm going to make Shadow regret that he was ever born!" Amy shouted.

"Or made..." Knuckles pointed out.

"My Lord... I would like to offer you a gift..." The Reflector handed Shadow something that looked a bit like a watch. Shadow studied it for a while. It showed where the Reflector was, the time, midget missiles and had a built in communicator. Shadow didn't like it as much as the Reflector hoped he would.

_At least the tracker will hold some use..._Thought Shadow. "I should leave... Chaos control!"


	15. Chapter 15 Negotiation

**Chapter 15**

Silver and Blaze were waiting for Shadow when he teleported into the Secret Place of Shadow, however, Maria was not.

"You took your time!" Silver told Shadow "Where were you? Where's Sonic?"

"Are you a mum, Silver?" Shadow teased Silver. "I was taking Sonic somewhere. He told me where the emeralds are... Is Maria here?"

"No..." Blaze replied "She went exploring."

"I took Sonic to the Reflector..." admitted Shadow

"A double agent?!" Silver started to hum _Mission Impossible _"You're on our side, right?"

"No I'm going to turn you all in (!)" Shadow sarcastically said "Tails, Knuckles and Amy think I'm with the Reflector. He gave me this..." Shadow rotated his wrist.

Silver looked at it and retched. "MY EYES!"

Blaze gave a smoother approach "A bit flashy but cool."

"Are you going to bust Sonic out again?" Silver asked once he had recovered.

"When we have the emeralds or if the Reflector decides to kill them..." Shadow decided "Another thing... Rouge wasn't there..."

Blaze looked at Silver who looked guilty. She sighed and tutted.

"Ah...Um...Haha..." Silver scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

"What happened to her?!" growled Shadow.

"Nothing. She got away." Blaze informed Shadow. "It's late...We should call it a day. It's been really confusing..."

Silver nodded in agreement then turned to Shadow "I don't trust your new...Thing. Can I destroy it?"

"Later..." Shadow agreed before leaving.

Blaze folded her arms "I hope Shadow knows what he's doing..."

"Of course he knows! He's Shadow!" Silver replied enthusiastically. Silver had complete faith in Shadow and would trust him with his life.

Shadow teleported to the beautiful place Maria had taken him. She was sitting underneath one of the surrounding trees, admiring the view.

Shadow made sure that Maria could see him. "I thought I might find you here..."

"Shadow!" Maria didn't seem surprised that Shadow was there "What happened to Sonic?"

Shadow had that covered "He went looking for emeralds." Shadow lied "He likes to turn super for no reason..."

"Sonic seems like a show-off."

"He is" agreed Shadow. Sonic was a bit of a show-off...

"I'm done here. Shall we go to your place?"

Shadow nearly took a step back. He was going to book a hotel room for her... "You're still happy in the guest room?"

"It feels more comfortable...Even if you yell my name!"

"Ok..." Shadow took Maria's hand and led her away.

"Maria?" asked Shadow once they had gone into the Secret Place of Shadow "Can you tell me why you're here?" tried Shadow for the second time.

"I guess so now the Reflector is dead." Maria replied "I was sent so when you were up against the Reflector if you died my life would be swapped for yours."

"You'd do that for me?" Shadow asked. He remembered the ARK disaster but he was constantly told 'it was an accident'. Not that he believed GUN.

"I was killed saving you. I'd do it again. Anyway, I'm going to get some rest. See you tomorrow!" Maria said cheerfully and headed up the stairs that looked as if they would fall any second.

After half an hour, Shadow got up from his armchair and walked out the door, leaving Maria unguarded...

Shadow had teleported into Eggman's base. He saw Eggman directly ahead of him and like Shadow, had no-one at his side.

"Hello Shadow. What'd ya want?" Eggman wasn't very interested.

Shadow drew closer to Eggman "I need you to make some robots identical to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy."

"In return?" Eggman wasn't going to do it without a reasonable reward. Preferably a chaos emerald. Shadow held up the green chaos emerald that he always had with him.

Eggman was going to make a grab for it but stopped himself "That and something else."

"What else do you want?" What else could Shadow offer?

Eggman's eyes widened "The destruction of the Reflector."

_Word spreads fast... _Thought Shadow. _But to defeat the Reflector I'm going to need all the emeralds..._"

Deal. I'll give you this tomorrow."

"TOMORROW?!" Eggman shouted _He is __still __smarter than Sonic! _

"If I like the robots, I'll give you it."

"THIS IS BLACKMAIL!" roared Eggman

"No, it is a negotiation." Shadow tapped his foot. "Any other minor lessons you want to give me? Good" Shadow didn't give Eggman a chance to reply and teleported away.

"He is getting as bad as Sonic!" because Eggman thought no-one was watching him, he had a little tantrum. Unfortunately for him, the CCTV cameras were on and the bots watching it recorded the tape...


	16. Chapter 16 Day 2

**Chapter 16**

Shadow didn't return to Maria. He had one final trip to make. To Sonic. When he teleported into the dungeons, everyone except Sonic was asleep. Sonic had his head bowed.

Shadow approached Sonic calmly. "Has he said anything?"

Sonic lifted his head up. There was a big red slash across his right eye. The other was badly bruised. Sonic was covered in minor injuries. "Yes. We're going to be killed at sundown tomorrow. You better have a plan. If not, it's been nice knowing you Shadow and give Eggman a right whooping from me."

"You aren't dead yet so stop planning the speech. I'm way ahead of you." Shadow gave a wink and teleported away.

"Sonic..." Amy murmured in her sleep "Come back... Don't trust Shadow...Sonic...We have to...Get him to...Remember..."

Sonic gave a smile at Amy. _If only I could tell you..._

_The Next Day..._

Shadow had actually managed to get back to the Secret Place of Shadow but instead of going to his room, he ended up on the armchair and slept there. Surprisingly when Maria saw him she wasn't suspicious. Instead, Maria stared at Shadow for a little while. He looked quite cute asleep.

Shadow wasn't actually asleep. He managed a fake yawn and sat up. "Morning." Shadow yawned.

"Good morning Shadow!" Maria replied cheerfully. She noticed the device on Shadow's wrist "What's that on your wrist?"

Shadow looked at his wrist. "This? I got it from GUN yesterday." Lied Shadow. He couldn't tell her.

"Is Sonic powerful with all the emeralds?"

"Yes. Sometimes too powerful." Shadow spoke the truth. Sonic was powerful with the emeralds.

"Let's find those emeralds!" Maria was a bit louder than normal when she said this.

Shadow used his original communicator to contact Silver "Silver, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear over." Silver was still acting like a soldier.

"Meet us in Green Hill Zone. We're going emerald hunting." A small smirk formed across Shadow's face.

"My Lord." Imitated Silver.

"WILL YOU QUIT THAT?!" Roared Shadow not knowing he startled Maria.

"Fine...Over and..." began Silver.

"AND THAT!" added Shadow.

"YOU'RE NO FUN!" Silver shouted before he ended the communication.

Shadow tried to stay calm and not to frighten Maria. He held up the chaos emerald and teleported out.

Blaze and Silver arrived at the exact moment Maria and Shadow teleported in.

"Emeralds...Where could they be?" wondered Silver.

"Angel Island..." Shadow tried not wanting to sound too suspicious in front of Maria.

"Seems promising..." Blaze agreed while Silver nodded.

"Let's go there then!" Maria decided.

"Chaos control!" Shadow shouted.

When they teleported onto Angel Island, the purple emerald was directly ahead of them.

"Well that was easy!" Silver said.

Maria reached out for the emerald not knowing of the dangers.

"Don't touch it!" Shadow yelled sharply and pulled Maria away from the gem.

Blaze looked around for the slightest sign of movement "It's a trap..."

Out of no-where a tornado arose. The Reflector emerged from it and stood in front of Shadow. "Hello creatures and human. My lord." The Reflector bowed his head.

"Shadow!" Maria shouted accusingly.

"Mind if I take this?" The Reflector picked up the glowing purple emerald "And this?" He swirled around, took a knife from his belt and held it across Maria's throat.

"Shadow!" Maria screamed

"Another word from you my dear and I shall kill you where you stand!" The Reflector whispered in her ear "And the slightest movement from any of you will result with her death!"

Silver and Blaze looked like statues. Shadow's eyes flashed between the Reflector and Maria.

The Reflector created another tornado so within a few seconds, he and Maria were gone...

_Maria... _Thought Shadow. What had he done? How was he going to convince the Reflector to hand over Maria without sounding suspicious? "We need to keep moving."

"Where now?" Blaze asked not wishing to hurt Shadow.

"Metropolis..."Growled Shadow "And I don't need your pity. Chaos control!"


	17. Chapter 17 Robots

**Chapter 17**

Shadow skated of trying to find an emerald. Silver and Blaze were left speechless in a cloud of dust. They looked at ruined Eggman's city. There were buildings with most of the bricks missing, statues with heads knocked of not to mention the patrolling robots.

"That Maria/Reflector business packs quite a punch." Noted Blaze.

Silver was searching in some rubble "Tell me something I don't know!"

Blaze joined him after a little while, lifting bricks and lumps of metal.

"FOUND IT!" Shadow shouted from half a mile away "Chaos control!"

"SHEESH SHADOW!" Silver shouted.

Shadow teleported into Eggman's gloomy base. There wasn't much of a difference between this base and the Secret Place of Shadow except for Eggman's base was bigger and had some lighting.

Eggman had four robots in front of him, each a different size and colour."Hello Shadow. Like my newest designs?" He stepped away so Shadow could see the robots "Introducing... Sonic101!"

"Faster than the speed of sound!" Sonic101 said. He looked and sounded identical to Sonic.

"Tails500..." Eggman said proudly

"Sonic! Wait for me!" Tails500 shouted. Eggman had captured all of Tails' key aspects.

"Knuckles273.5!"

"273.5?!" Shadow asked and sniggered "Was that the best you could come up with?"

"I was running out of ideas!" admitted Eggman

"The great Dr Eggman ran out of ideas?!" Shadow laughed "I don't want to know what Amy is called..."

"She's even better!" Eggman exclaimed "Amy1, 000,000,000,000!"

"I don't even want to know how you pronounce that number." Shadow held out the green emerald which Eggman took with excitement. He sighed when he saw Shadow with the red emerald. Shadow used Chaos Control to teleport him and the robots out of Eggman's base.

Shadow teleported to a scene that looked practically normal. There was a massive mansion with bushes surrounding it.

_If only it was normal... _thought Shadow. It was the Reflector's hideout. Shadow shoved the robots in the largest bush, put them into standby mode and was going to teleport out but something stopped him.

"I don't believe Shadow is evil!" Maria's voice was very faint because she was at least a floor below Shadow.

"Maria..." Shadow said without meaning to. He listened to the next part of the conversation.

"He'll come and show his true colours soon" Knuckles told Maria.

"Knuckles is right." Amy agreed "Shadow is evil, a coward, a..." Shadow didn't hear the next part.

"Stop!" Maria shouted half with rage and half crying "Please stop! Just stop! Can we move onto another subject?"

"Hang on Maria..." Shadow whispered "Chaos control!" Shadow bellowed so Maria could hopefully hear him.

"That sounded like Shadow..." Maria murmured

"You're imagining things." Sonic responded _Come on Shadow! Where are you? You've only got a few hours!_

Shadow teleported into the Reflector's 'throne room'. He was pacing up and down when Shadow entered.

The Reflector bowed "My Lord...Will the girl draw Silver to us?"

Shadow looked at him blankly "No..."

The Reflector pulled a key out from no-where and handed it to Shadow. "This is the key to her cell. Do what you like with her"

Shadow went down the stairs and the Reflector turned to his throne "She is serving a greater purpose than you could possibly imagine..."

"Speak of the devil with a capital 'D'!" Amy screamed when Shadow appeared.

"A capital 'S'" corrected Knuckles as Shadow walked down the stairs.

"He has the key to a cell!" Tails pointed out as Shadow went past the cell Tails was in.

"Shadow, what's happening?" Maria asked as Shadow unlocked her cell.

Shadow remained silent throughout this and did not speak until Maria was in his grasp. "Chaos control." Shadow said with no enthusiasm and teleported away with Maria. Before he did so, he exchanged a look with Sonic. A look that showed fear and comfort at the same time.


	18. Chapter 18 Maybe Shadow's sea sick?

**Chapter 18**

Shadow teleported into the Secret Place of Shadow. He looked down at the floor trying to avoid Maria's gaze.

"Shadow, What is happening?!" Maria repeated.

"I can't say..." Shadow had to keep this secret no matter how close it was to spilling until the very end.

Maria changed her tone "You can...They all say you're evil..."

"I'm not..." Shadow said a little too quickly.

"Then why are you helping the Reflector?" Maria knew there was no-way Shadow could wriggle out of this one. Luckily for Shadow, Blaze came in at that precise moment.

"Maria!" Blaze said joyfully "What's going on?"

"Blaze tell Maria what's happening. Chaos control!" Shadow teleported out.

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Maria shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Uh oh, Shadow. Whatcha done now?" Blaze thought aloud.

Shadow arrived at Seaside Hill and switched his communicator on. "Silver?" He asked into his ring.

"Yeah. What's up Shadow?" Silver questioned. "Yo need help lookin' for the emeralds?"

"I guess...Why have you suddenly tried to go all cool?"

"You're never happy! Looks like I'll go back to normal...Where are you heading?"

"I'm at Seaside Hill..."

"See you there then...Over and out!"

_I could get used to that... _Shadow thought as he waited for Silver.

Silver appeared out of what seemed like no-where in front of Shadow. "Where should we start?"

Suddenly Shadow clutched his side that hurt a lot. "ARGH!" Shadow managed to stay on one of his knees but was too weak and toppled over into the sand.

Silver thought for once Shadow felt like joking "Hey nice one Shadow! Now get up! Shadow? Shadow?! Ok think...Er...Um...What would Shadow do? Lie on the floor?! Ok get a grip Silver!" Silver slapped himself "Ooh! Ooh! Emeralds!" Silver found Shadow's red emerald and placed on his right. He then took his own silver coloured emerald and put it on Shadow's left. The emeralds glowed but had no effect. Shadow was growing weaker by the second.

A voice spoke from no-where although it sounded exactly like Shadow "Silver...Find another emerald to regenerate me..."

Silver turned his head in all possible directions "Erm...Ok weird-voice-that-came-out-of-no-where-but-sounds-exactly-like-Shadow! Unless Shadow can speak without moving his mouth... Now I have Mephiles in my mind!"

Silver scooped up the nearest emerald and started to wander around with it until it glowed. "In the sand?! Why in the stupid places?!" Silver nearly stomped in frustration. Silver started to dig frantically in the sand like a meerkat until he saw the tiniest bit of the yellow chaos emerald. He used his powers to lift the emerald out of the masses of sand and hurried over to Shadow with the two emeralds. "Come on Shadow..."

Shadow instantly stood up and the first thing he saw was a massive hole in the sand. "Are you making me a grave?" He joked.

"YOU'RE ALIVE!" Silver shouted. Shadow raised his eyebrows "Yeah course I am. I'm immortal, remember? I had some sort of flashback but I can't remember anything about it..."

"SOMEBODY CALL A DOCTOR!" Silver screamed "WE HAVE AN IMMORTAL HEDGEHOG WITH SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS!"

"It had something to do with Maria..." Shadow added "Spooky..." Silver had stopped yelling about doctors and surgery "The chaos emerald search has been too easy!"

"Let's find the others" Shadow held up his red emerald and bellowed "CHAOS CONTROL!" Silver looked at Shadow "Nothing..."

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow tried "Chaos blast! Chaos rift?" Nothing had any affect.

Silver looked as confused as Shadow "What's wrong Shadow?"

"I don't know..." Shadow answered "ARGH!" Shadow looked into Silver's amber eyes with fear before falling to the ground again. Shadow had stopped breathing.

"Shadow?" Silver knelt by Shadow and started to shake him frantically "SHADOW!? SHADOW!?" Silver continued shaking Shadow for another 30 seconds. He wasn't going to believe Shadow was gone. He couldn't be. _At least no-one is here...It would really ruin his reputation..._ When Silver finally decided that the shaking wouldn't work Shadow sat up.

"That was weird..." Shadow said.

"YOU'RE TELLING ME?!" Silver roared "DON'T DO THAT!" Silver gave himself a minute before asking what happened and what was so weird.

"I think I had some sort of vision..." Shadow started. "You? Visions?" Silver almost cried with laughter "Oh this is too much! Pinch me!" Shadow didn't pinch Silver. Instead, Shadow punched Silver's arm.

"What was that?! It hurt!" Silver exclaimed.

"A friendly punch." Shadow said and continued "You can't bring me back because the Reflector will return and bring the destruction of this world. That cannot happen because..."

"THEN WE WON'T BE ALIVE ANYMORE!" Silver interrupted "THERE WON'T BE ANYMORE POPCORN!"

"Popcorn? There are greater things than popcorn!" Shadow told Silver.

"Like candyfloss? Or chilli dogs?!"

"ARGH" Shadow held his sides again "He's trying to clone me!"

"Why?" Silver asked completely confused.

Shadow felt a wave of power over him. He had enough power to chaos control. He was just about to go when he heard Maria.

"Shadow!" Maria shouted. Shadow looked up into Maria's blue eyes "What are you doing here?"

"I won't say until I've got what I need to know. Tell me EVERYTHING Shadow."

Shadow was still weak. "I...can't...I'll tell you when this mess is over."

"But you won't be here when this mess is over..."

Shadow cried out in agony but managed to stay standing.

"It's happening again!" Silver said "Go, Shadow, go!"

Shadow's grip on the chaos emerald tightened. "Urgh...Chaos...Control!" Shadow teleported out successfully.

"What's wrong with him?" Maria asked.

"I wish I knew." Silver replied "Maybe he's sea sick?" Silver tried _I'll keep this a secret until it all comes out..._


	19. Chapter 19 It's nearly sundown

**Chapter 19**

Shadow teleported into the Reflector's hideout and dropped to the floor.

"My Lord!" The Reflector didn't bother bowing. Instead, he hurried over with the purple chaos emerald and knelt down beside Shadow.

"Why...are you...?" Shadow started

"Doing this?" The Reflector knew what Shadow was going to say before he actually said it "I thought if I cloned you we would be a lot more powerful but it was a bad idea..."

"Yes...I need that emerald..." Shadow told him. The Reflector obliged and Shadow teleported away.

"It's working...My ingenious plan...1 hour till sundown...1 hour till the death of Sonic...1 hour till the world sees Shadow's true colours..." The Reflector told himself.

Maria and Silver waited anxiously for Shadow's return. While doing so Maria was asking Silver what on earth was going on. Silver ignored this and talked about what lovely weather they were having.

After a little while, Shadow arrived, lying on the ground.

"Shadow!" Silver shouted. He took his own emerald and placed it by Shadow. The emeralds glowed and Shadow stood up as if nothing happened.

"Shadow!" Maria exclaimed. She waited for Shadow's reaction. "Chaos control!"

Shadow said. He teleported and was gone for a few seconds the returned in a ball of light.

"He's back!" Silver shouted triumphantly. He did a little flight of joy as if he had just won a gold medal in the Olympic Games.

Maria did feel happy but had to interrogate Shadow and Silver until they told her what was going on. "What happened?"

"Erm" Silver looked at Shadow, hoping that he would say something so he could back Shadow up.

"I can't say." Shadow said plainly.

"What's wrong with you Shadow?!" Maria asked in shock.

"Nothing..."

"Yeah!" Silver agreed "He can walk and talk and chaos control! Name me one thing Shadow can't do!"

Maria looked like she was thinking hard "Hmm...Oh I don't know, tell me the truth!" She looked into Shadow's crimson eyes "Whose side are you on?"

"Whose side do you think I'm on?" Shadow thought the answer was obvious.

"I'm not sure...You keeping that secret from me...People in the dungeons saying you're evil...I'd say the Reflector's but knowing you, you'd probably have a trick up your sleeve..."

"Ok that's explained that!" Silver said hoping that Shadow's secret was safe for a little while longer. Silver then saw Maria's and Shadow's faces "Oh...Spill the beans, Shadow"

"Ok..." Shadow thought up a story on the spot "GUN decided to make a clone of the Reflector with some sort of DNA sample..."

"You expect me to believe that garbage?!" Maria stared at Shadow in disgust. Shadow turned away from Maria and looked at the sky. It was nearly sundown. Blaze came into view and regretted it as soon as she saw Maria's face.

"Can someone please tell me what is going on?" Maria asked.

"Silver, I'm going to need your help with something!" Shadow completely ignored Maria. Silver was fine with it although he'd rather watch the sunset with Blaze. He scampered over to Shadow with the chaos emeralds. He gave Shadow the red and purple emeralds and kept the silver and yellow emeralds.

"Chaos control!" Shadow shouted and teleported away with Silver.


	20. Chapter 20 Team Sonic plus 1

**Chapter 20**

Shadow and Silver teleported outside the Reflector's hideout.

Shadow beckoned Silver to the largest bush and showed him the robots. "I'll go in and when I yell your name grab a robot and shove it through that gap over there." Shadow pointed to a gap where the bricks had broken away.

"Won't he hear us?" Silver stated the obvious.

"He's not there..."

"How do you know?"

Shadow showed Silver his communicator the Reflector had given him. It stated very clearly that the Reflector was in Crisis City.

"Ok...you better go and do it" Silver told him.

"Chaos control!" Shadow said. He smirked at Silver. Silver gave him a look to say 'good luck'.

Knuckles didn't even need to look up to see it was Shadow. He and the others all had their heads bowed with their knees against their chests.

"Back to gloat?" Knuckles asked. Shadow ignored this and walked straight to Sonics' cell.

"NO!" Amy shouted and stood up with her hands holding the bars "Leave Sonic alone! Take one of us instead!"

Shadow exchanged looks with Sonic and then looked at Amy as if she were mad.

"Shadow don't do it! Please don't do it!" Tails called out to Shadow. Everyone except Sonic was convinced that Shadow was going to get Sonic killed.

"You kept your mouth shut..." Shadow started staring directly at Sonic. "I thought you would have said something by now..."

"I have my skills..." Sonic said.

"Huh?" Amy had no idea what was going on. Nor did the others.

They could all hear Silver humming '_What I'm Made Of_.'

"SILVER!" They all said as one, some in surprise and some annoyed.

Silver could feel himself blushing. _At least they can't see me...My singing is a lot worse...At least I wasn't humming 'Dream of an Absolution'..._

Shadow had found a bunch of keys on the wall and unlocked Sonics' cell. Sonic grabbed Shadow's hand in an alliance sort of way.

"Had ya fooled didn't he?" Sonic said looking at the others.

Shadow let go of Sonics' hand "We don't have time for reunion parties or group hugs! We have a life-threatening situation in our hands! Silver, NOW!"

"Right!" Silver yelled and posted the robots through the gap in the wall. Shadow picked up the robot that looked identical to Sonic, put it in the cell and took it out of stand-by mode. Shadow found the key to the other cell and unlocked it. He would have used 'Chaos Blast' but the Reflector would get suspicious about his cells being ruined and his prisoners still being inside when they could easily escape. Shadow pushed the remaining robots into the cell Amy, Knuckles and Tails were in once they had escaped.

"We have to go now." Sonic said. "He'll be back soon..."

"Chaos control!" roared Shadow. Everyone in the dungeons teleported to Silver, who was sitting on a stone step.

"Ok..." Started Amy "What's happening?"

"Oh nothing." Sonic told her "The Reflector is obviously on our side. When he was threatening to kill us was all just a big misunderstanding..."

Amy would have beaten Sonic with her piko piko hammer if she had it with her.

"They know those details!" Silver turned his head to Sonic "Go through the plan."

Sonic looked smug. "I'd love to but it would make more sense if Shadow explained..."

Everyone looked at Shadow who was hanging at the back.

_"__Coward" _thought Shadow "I somehow met the Reflector in a different plane..."

Silver was making plane sound effects. Everyone tried to ignore Silver even though he sounded exactly like a plane.

Shadow spoke over Silver "I was his 'Lord'...I'm a double agent and I'm locating the emeralds."

"Should be easy..." Knuckles muttered.

"And then..." Tails began.

"You, Sonic and Silver turn into your super form and the Reflector should be gone!" Amy interrupted.

Shadow sadly shook his head "No...**I** turn super and **I** defeat the Reflector..."

"No-one except Shadow can make a scratch on him." Silver explained.

"I will try everything I can possibly do but I fear I'll have to sacrifice myself..."

"Is there another way?" asked Tails. He may not be best buddies with Shadow but he didn't want Shadow to die either.

"There has to be!" Amy shouted. She didn't want Shadow to die even though she didn't like him that much.

"Don't give up that easily!" added Knuckles.

"We've tried everything..." Silver confirmed.

Tails asked the question they all wanted to know the answer to "How did Maria come back?"

"We don't know but you can't tell her any of this. It's complicated." Silver told Tails.

"Shouldn't we be looking for the emeralds? How many do you have?" Knuckles asked. "We have 4 and the Doctor has 1." Shadow informed Knuckles.

"YOU LET EGGMAN GET 1!?" Knuckles roared.

"I made a deal with him...The emerald for the robots AND the destruction of the Reflector..." Shadow calmly spoke.

"And to do that you need all the emeralds!" Amy concluded.

"Now you just have to hope he doesn't double-cross you." Sonic prayed "We should split into two teams and find the remaining emeralds."

"Fine" Shadow sighed "Me and Silver will take rooftop run. You can take on Ocean Palace."

"Ok..." Sonics' voice trailed off. "Are you still scared of water?" Shadow jeered.

"Leave Sonic alone!" Amy cried defensively.

"Leave Shadow to me Amy." Sonic wasn't hurt by Shadow's words.

"But..." Protested Amy "Fine!"

"Sonic can handle a bit of water...Are you taking the emeralds with you?" Knuckles asked.

"That is not your concern..." Shadow was avoiding handing the emeralds over "Your concern is the Master Emerald! It wasn't on Angel Island!"

"WHERE IS IT THEN?!" Shadow tapped some buttons on his wrist "Hello Rouge..."

"Hey Shadow! What do you want?" Rouge smiled.

"Do you have the Master Emerald?"

Rouge paused for a little while "Yeah...but don't tell Knuckles! He'll go berserk!"

"Oh don't worry, I won't." Shadow replied and tapped a few more buttons so Rouge couldn't hear him "You've just told him yourself!"

"I'M GOING TO GET THAT BAT!" Knuckles snapped "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"Ocean Palace. What a coincidence!" Silver said looking at Shadow's communicator.

"Well I don't know about you lot but I'm going there! See you!" Sonic zoomed of leaving a cloud of dust behind.

"Sonic! Wait for us!" Tails exclaimed before he, Amy and Knuckles ran after him.

"You ready?" Silver questioned. When Shadow remained silent Silver asked what was wrong.

"Nothing..." Shadow reassured Silver but not very convincingly.

"It's Maria isn't it?" Silver's words stabbed Shadow's heart.

"I don't know how to tell her..." Shadow confessed.

"It'll come out naturally. Just be you Shadow." "Fine..." Shadow muttered before teleporting out with Silver.


	21. Chapter 21 Last bit of Chaos

**Chapter 21**

"We've got company!" Shadow shouted as soon as he and Silver spotted a bunch of robots.

"Just like old times!" Blurted Silver.

Shadow and Silver selected a side of robots each without saying a word to each other. Silver unleashed a neon green ray of light on his half where as Shadow performed some kicks and a chaos blast to finish them off.

Silver kicked what used to be a robots leg "That was easy!"

"Don't jinx it." Shadow didn't feel the slightest bit of joy.

"Sorry..."

Shadow turned away from Silver "The more the merrier (!)" He added under his breath so Silver couldn't hear him.

"Hey!" Silver nudged Shadow in the ribs "There's the chaos emerald" Silver hovered by it until a shadow bigger than the building passed over.

When Shadow could see who was steering it he said "Doctor."

"Hello Silver, Shadow." Eggman greeted.

"What do you want?" Silver asked a question that had an obvious answer to.

"The chaos emerald of course to power this amazing robot!"

Silver grabbed the emerald before Eggman could say another word "Just tell him Shadow."

"Tell me what?!" Eggman demanded. He had his suspicions but...

"You wanted the destruction of the Reflector?" Silver asked "Shadow needs your emerald!"

"I knew it was too good to be true!" Eggman growled "Tell me...How do you plan to destroy him?"

"I'm going to sacrifice myself..." Shadow told Eggman.

"WHAT?!" Eggman screamed. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"It's the only way...And this time, don't create any androids."Shadow added.

"Why can't Sonic do it?"

Silver answered the question for the millionth time "No-one except Shadow can make a mark..."

"Alright! Alright! Fine!" Eggman threw the green emerald to Shadow. As soon as Eggman did though, his robot gave an unhealthy whir.

"That doesn't sound good..." Silver's voice drifted off.

"It isn't!" Eggman leapt 10 feet and onto the building. He pointed one of his long fingers at his robot "Shadow! Silver! Destroy it!"

Silver studied the robot "You know you and Sonic can do Atomic Strike...Could we do the same sort of thing?"

"Probably..." Shadow replied. He and Silver got into position and spun frantically around the robot then created a massive ball of electricity. Enough to destroy the robot.

"Pity you had to destroy it..." remarked Eggman. Shadow and Silver ignored this.

"You ready?" Shadow asked "For the battle?"

"Weren't you going to tell Maria?" Silver pointed out.

"Might as well..."

"Maria who?" Eggman wondered. It couldn't be Maria Robotnik. He was still trying to figure out how to bring back the dead. And how could Shadow beat him to it?! He wasn't a scientist or anything like that!

"Robotnik. Don't ask." Shadow added when Eggman opened his mouth to say something.

"Let's go Shadow." Silver raced Shadow to Green Hill zone.

"Farwell Shadow..." Eggman whispered "Or should I say sayonara?"

Shadow skated into Green Hill zone shortly followed by Silver. "Why did you take a detour, Shadow?" Silver asked

"Wouldn't you?" Shadow looked into Silver's amber eyes. He looked really cheerful but his eyes were full of sadness.

Silver looked away. Not because he was getting creeped out by Shadow but because Silver was getting a bit emotional. He couldn't let Shadow see him like this. Not even in his final hours. "Want me to get Maria?"

"Yes..." Shadow replied looking at the floor.

Silver dashed off in search of Maria and Blaze. He didn't notice a lone tear that flew behind him. His tear. The only one he would cry about Shadow's death.

_How am I supposed to tell her...? Am I letting my emotions take control of me? Come on...It's a little talk and you're getting so worked up about it...Just think you're back on the ARK again... _Shadow looked up and tapped a code into his communicator. "Rouge?" Shadow asked.

"I'm a bit busy Shadow! I'm busy trying to get the Master emerald back! You told Knuckles!" Rouge shouted.

"I didn't...I'm sorry...Rouge this may be the last time we speak... Tell Omega that I'm sorry and I'm proud to call him a friend."

"What?! What are you talking about Shadow?!"

"Hey Shadow!" Sonic said in the background "Should we tell her?"

Shadow said nothing and input another code into his communicator "GUN?"

"Yeah Shadow? How's it going?" Stan asked on the other end.

"I need you to set up 50 holograms of troops in Crisis City..."

"Ok...We are all behind you Shadow..."

"Send a message to the Doctor and make sure he's there..."

"Ok everyone! We're looking for a blue police box that's bigger on the inside! We are also looking for a man in a tux who has crazy hair! Around the age of 30! Shadow we'll make sure Eggman is there but why?"

"It's for the sake of the planet...Evacuate the place. Only Sonic and the others can be there."

"Affirmative. Over and Out." As soon as Shadow turned his communicator off, Silver lead Maria and Blaze to Shadow. Shadow sighed and started "I need to talk to you Maria..."

"Go on Shadow..." Maria just wanted to know the truth.

"The Reflector is alive...I nearly have all the emeralds...I'm going to sacrifice myself and get rid of the Reflector..." Shadow explained.

Tears rolled uncontrollably down Maria's face "Don't do it Shadow...I won't let you go!"

"I have to..." Shadow was almost crying. He headed in the direction of Crisis City without turning back.

Maria froze up then started to chase after Shadow. She couldn't let him go there. There had to be another way!

Maria was almost there when Silver jumped in front of her, blocking her way. Silver was threatening to use his powers on Maria if she took another step towards Shadow.

Shadow turned around and looked at Maria in her blue eyes. "I'm sorry Maria. I have to do this for the sake of the world, no matter what the cost. That was my promise to you..."

Maria stared at Shadow blankly "What promise?" Shadow's eyes widened and looked at Maria in horror. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Then the truth hit him. She wasn't the real Maria and never was. It was impossible to bring back the dead. Blaze was completely different though. It wasn't the first time that had happened to her and probably not the last.

"Silver! Blaze!" Shadow shouted with his eyes still on Maria "Take Maria to Crisis City!"

Blaze and Silver did as they were told. They now knew that the Maria before them wasn't actually Maria. She could be a clone for all they knew.

Shadow watched Maria being dragged away by Silver and Blaze. The Maria he knew...The Maria who was with him on the ARK was gone...dead...forever...

Moments later, Shadow saw Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge and Omega run towards him.

"Shadow!" Rouge shouted.

"THE REFLECTOR WAS SIGHTED AT CRISIS CITY." Omega said in a metallic voice.

Sonic threw the blue emerald to Shadow. "You've got some unfinished business to complete!"

They all ran to Crisis City knowing that it would be Shadow's final hour...


	22. Chapter 22 The Battle

**Chapter 22**

Shadow, Sonic and the others appeared in Crisis City. Shadow found a spot where they could see the Reflector but he couldn't see them.

"Thanks for everything Shadow..." Tails started. Shadow had helped them save the earth from Eggman and he would never forget that.

"Give it your all..." Knuckles smirked "Thanks for telling me where the Master emerald was..."

"You do know that I actually told you!" Rouge pointed out "Thanks Shadow... Team Dark won't be Team Dark without you..."

"I APRICIATE YOU LOOKING AT ME AS A FRIEND." Omega thanked Shadow "I AM FEELING SOMETHING STRANGE. I THINK IT IS A FEELING CALLED SADNESS..."

Eggman came into view "Shadow... You are immortal...Surely you cannot die!"

"It has no effect if you are immortal or not..." Sonic answered "This is Shadow's last hour..."

Shadow turned away without saying a word to any of them. He found Silver, Blaze and the so-called Maria moments later.

"Good luck Shadow..." Blaze said unhappily.

Silver stepped over to Shadow and held out his hand "See you around..."

Shadow shook Silver's hand "Thanks for everything..."He whispered in Silver's ear.

Shadow then walked over to Maria who was on her knees and sobbing. "You were never the real Maria." Shadow spat "I don't who or what you are but you are not the Maria I knew."

Maria gasped "Shadow...please..." Shadow didn't give Maria a chance to finish what she was saying. He held up his hand, created a blast and sent Maria flying into a wall.

"Argh!" Maria screamed as she hit the wall. She looked as if she may never move again...

Blaze looked away and Silver handed some emeralds to Shadow "You'll need these..."

Shadow walked towards the central of Crisis City. He had the green and red emeralds in his hands and the others floating in a circle around his head. The Reflector loomed ahead with 50 troops surrounding him. The soldiers made a pathway so Shadow could reach the Reflector.

"You've done well." The Reflector started to laugh at the humans as Shadow approached.

"ARRGH!" Shadow shouted as he turned super. A blazing yellow light surrounded him as he did so.

The Reflector handed Shadow a large pistol "Shoot them."

Shadow did so. When he did though the soldiers disappeared.

"ALL HAIL SHADOW!" Silver shouted and started to hum "Come on you must know this one!"

All the Reflector could say was "What the..."

Shadow copied the sort of uppercut Knuckles would do on the Reflector.

"NO!" Yelled the Reflector. He tried to defend himself but it was useless. This was his only weakness. Super Shadow. He fell in front of Silver.

"Hey Shadow!" Sonic shouted. He had a motor bike next to him. Shadow's motor bike. Shadow got onto it and waited for the Reflector to get up. When he did so, Shadow ran the motor bike straight into the Reflector. Strangely, instead of being flattened, he was knocked onto the other side of Crisis City.

Somehow, the Reflector got up and fought Shadow in the clouds. Everyone else could see the shadows created by the lightning. They heard "Chaos Blast!" and "Chaos Spear!" from Shadow a couple of times and constant groans from the Reflector.

Shadow knew nothing was working "This is for you Maria..." Shadow said under his breath "I will for fill your promise..." Shadow removed his rings and held out his arms. The next thing that happened was a large explosinon...

"SHADOW!" Screamed Maria. She had managed to get up somehow after the blast that sent her into the wall. A huge grey cloud of smoke had covered the area that most of the battle took place.

"Did that really just happen?" Tails asked looking from Sonic to Silver.

"Shadow..." Rouge said without meaning to.

"This doesn't seem real..." Silver said "I mean Shadow, dead?"

Blaze put her hand on Silver's shoulder "We don't want to admit it either..."

Maria fell to her knees and looked up to the sky. She opened her mouth and some black gas came out of her mouth.

"Maria?" Silver asked. He and the others crowded around her and waited for her to speak.

"Hello Silver..." Maria cried "It hasn't been me talking lately...The Reflector did something to me..."

"What?" Sonic asked. "Well..." Maria hesitated "It happened when the Reflector got the emerald from Angel Island..."


	23. Chapter 23 Maria's Memory

**Chapter 23**

_A Few Hours Ago..._

_We had just arrived in this gloomy place that looked as if it was an interrogation room. The Reflector still had that dagger to my throat. He tossed me into a chair that instantly snapped some cuffs around my wrists and ankles. _

_"What do you want with me?!" I yelled_

_The Reflector stroked my cheek down to my neck with one of his long fingers. I tried to back away but the cuffs grew tighter. So tight it drew blood. Then the Reflector talked no sense._

_"You are just perfect..." He was twirling the dagger._

_"What do you want with me?!" I repeated._

_He spun around and cut into my arm with no warning. I cried in pain. "Don't talk you pathetic girl!"_

_"I have a right to know what is going on!"_

_The Reflector smirked for a moment. "You're right..." He went back to stroking my neck "Ask away..."_

_"Why aren't you dead?" I blurted out._

_"I cannot be killed... I am like Shadow... Immortal..."_

_I shook my head "No...You can't be..." I forgot about the cuffs and tried to escape. I could feel the blood pouring down my arms while the Reflector laughed softly. He sounded like Shadow..._

_"Stupid girl..." He started to fiddle with my hair._

_"What do you want with Shadow? Why do you call him Lord?" I already knew the answer..._

_"We have unfinished business...That is all you need to know..." The Reflector didn't give away too much information... He then took his knife and cut about an inch of my hair. "That should do..."_

_"What are you going to do with that?" I asked._

_He pulled some tiny glass bottles from mid-air. The Reflector took one of the empty ones and took some blood from the cut he had made. He suspended that in mid air. He did the same process with the blood from my wrists and ankles. After the bottles hovered in mid-air, the Reflector took one with a bubbling purple liquid and put my hair in it, then poured the blood from each of the bottles into the mixture._

_"What are you doing?" I wondered in awe._

_The Reflector didn't answer. Instead, he cut himself and poured his blood into the bottle. His cut healed instantly. He chanted some strange language until the liquid turned the exact same colour as Shadow's fur._

_He offered it to me but I refused. He seemed to be enjoying this. He drank the contents of the bottle but kept the vile in his mouth and came close to me. Very close. Too close... It was disgusting what he did. I ended up drinking the liquid. My cuts instantly healed but I could feel myself fading. He laughed like a maniac. I could still see and feel but I had no control over myself. _

_I was put in a separate cell after that. The Reflector was enjoying it a lot. I was powerless and had no free will. I could do nothing but wait. Wait for someone to set me free..._

_Present Day_

"Yuck!" Silver retched "Why would he do that?!"

"I don't know..." Maria confessed "He needed me out of the way. Maybe so you couldn't bring Shadow back if he turned on him..."

"So like a back-up plan?" Blaze asked.

"I guess so..." Maria said. Then she ran into the smoke. She had to try and find Shadow even if the smoke could overcome her.

Silver and Sonic shared a worried look and ran after Maria. They grabbed her arms and pulled her away from the smoke.

"NO!" Maria shouted as she was pulled away. She tried to escape but couldn't. Silver and Sonic were too strong for her.

"He's gone..." Silver told her.

"And you'll die if you go in there..." Sonic added.

"The emeralds..." Maria was still crying "Could we use them to bring him back?"

Sonic sighed "Ok...Everyone! Look for the emeralds while Silver and I try to find Shadow!" Sonic and Silver headed into the smoke and disappeared.

No-one did anything. Everyone except Maria thought it was useless.

"What is everyone waiting for?" Maria asked "Christmas?! Come on! We need those emeralds!"

Tails and Amy exchanged looks and tried to find an easy way to tell Maria that it was useless.

"Umm..." Amy started.

"We know what you're trying to do..." Tails added.

"You're trying to use the emeralds to bring Shadow back but there is a very slim chance that his body will be there..."

Maria shook her head "We have to at least try!"

"Well" Eggman said and started to creep towards the emeralds "If no-one wants the emeralds..."

"NO!" Everyone chorused and grabbed an emerald. For the first time in a very long time, the sky cleared and the sun shone. As it did so, the smoke began to clear.

"WE'VE FOUND HIM!" Sonic shouted.

"SHADOW!" Maria cried and ran over with a chaos emerald in her hand. She placed the emerald by him which glowed for a short amount of time.

Silver looked down on Shadow. He looked perfectly normal but showed no sign of life. "He can't be..."

The others walked over and placed a chaos emerald by Shadow. The emeralds glowed but had no effect.

"Shadow..." Eggman said.

"He's not coming back..."Tails confirmed "He might be resisting or it could be because he was made..."

"Maria..." Started Silver "Would you give your life for Shadow?" Maria nodded. She would do near enough anything for Shadow.

"Blaze?" Silver asked. Blaze smiled sadly "I'll be fine Silver."

"What are you planning to do?" Knuckles questioned.

"We are going to pay the Life Swapper a visit!" Silver answered.

Rouge placed a hand on her hip "The who-er?"

"Someone who swaps lives." Silver replied "At least I think that's how it works..."

"WHO COMES UP WITH THESE STUPID NAMES?"Omega droned loudly "WHAT IS NEXT?"

"The Hover-er-er?" Silver smiled.

"I REGRET ASKING."

"Is that Reflector dude gonna come back anytime soon?" Sonic asked.

"Are there any remains of him?" Tails enquired.

"No." Eggman said quickly "So he is truly dead."

"I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade but does anyone actually know where the Life Swapper could be?" Knuckles finally said.

"No..." Tails' voice drifted off.

"The first I've heard of him..." Sonic admitted.

"Didn't know he existed until recently" Blaze said.

Maria shrugged her shoulders and gazed at Silver.

"I just know what Shadow told me..." Silver confessed "Nothing on location though..."

They all stood like lemons. No-one knew anything that was useful...


	24. Chapter 24 Are we there yet?

**Chapter 24**

They all took guesses of where the Life Swapper could be but they didn't agree on any. It might even be easier if they left Shadow dead.

Maria suddenly looked up "I think I know where the Life Swapper is!"

"Where?" Silver asked.

"Probably a wild goose chase..." Knuckles muttered.

"We have to wait for a sign..." Maria said.

"What, one that says 'Life Swapper 100 miles'?" Knuckles snickered at his own joke.

Sonic stepped towards his rival "Was that the best you could come up with?"

Maria raised her voice "Did Shadow actually mean anything to you?! You're making jokes when he just sacrificed himself for the whole world?!" Sonic and Knuckles shuffled their feet while Amy looked away uncomfortably.

Tails had completely ignored the conversation. He was looking for a sign. He might not like Shadow a lot but he hated seeing Maria this upset. He hung his head down and sighed. Something had caused him to lift his head as fast as he could though. A cool wind. It sent a shiver down his spine but felt comforting in a way. Tails turned to the others "The wind!"

"Well done ikle Tails!" Knuckles congratulated him sarcastically.

"No Knuckles!" Rouge shouted "The wind is the sign!"

"Worth a shot..." Sonic agreed "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Pain, torture, death." Knuckles counted on his fingers "The usual."

"Oh ha ha!" Blaze laughed unconvincingly.

Maria had quite enough. She was going to save Shadow even if the others didn't care. She picked up his cold body and walked off. Silver, Blaze, Omega and Rouge followed and picked up the emeralds.

"I don't know about you guys..." Sonics' voice drifted off and followed the others after picking up Shadow's rings. The others followed but Eggman stopped and picked something from the rubble and shoved it in one of his pockets before leaving Crisis City...

The wind was blowing south and took the party to Quiet City.

"Hey!" Tails exclaimed "This place isn't supposed to be here! It's supposed to be on the other side of town!"

"Something isn't right here..." Silver added.

"I CANNOT PINPOINT OUR LOCATION!" Omega droned.

"Which way do you think we should go?" Rouge asked Maria.

"This way..." Maria kept following the current of the wind.

Knuckles moaned moments later "We've been doing this for hours!" Knuckles felt as if they had been walking for hours.

"No we haven't!" Amy said and tried to encourage Knuckles to walk on.

"It was daylight when we came into this place...Now the moon is up..." Blaze confirmed.

Silver stopped "This Life Swapper doesn't want to be found easily...He is trying to trick us..."

"Let's keep going." Sonic said "I think we're near the end of this crazy maze..."

They weaved through buildings for a few minutes before coming to an exit. Knuckles was convinced that they were going around in circles until he saw the exit.

"Ok..." Amy said. They were now in Ocean Palace which was nowhere near the city.

Sonic shuddered when he saw where they were "Why?! Why here?!"

Knuckles put a hand on Sonics' shoulder "You're just gonna have to grin and bear it. It's more than likely you'll have to go into the drink!"

Sonic wriggled away "I'm going to everything possible so I don't have to go in there!"

Amy wandered about for a bit looking behind the fancy fountains "Strange...Nothing has been attacking us..."

Silver and Maria turned to Amy in horror "DON'T JINX IT!"

As if it was a cue, some of Eggman's robots surrounded them and circled them. Sonic, Knuckles and Omega didn't hesitate. They began to attack the robots that took no damage.

"You can't defeat them!" Maria shouted.

Sonic didn't stop "Then you don't know us! We've defeated worse! They're putting up a fight though!"

Silver and Maria exchanged a look and knew exactly what to do. Blaze caught a mischievous glint in Silver's eyes and decided to follow him.

Maria, Silver and Blaze plunged into the water hoping that something would lead them to the Life Swapper. Rouge managed to pull Omega away and leap into the water. Tails and Amy decided to do the same thing.

Tails hesitated "Come on Sonic! Knuckles!" Eggman grabbed the young fox and dragged him into the water along with himself.

"Come on Sonic!" Knuckles leapt out of the ring with Sonic.

"But I hate water!" Sonic protested. "You're a hedgehog not a cat!" Knuckles kicked Sonic into the water and dived in seconds later.

"WHOOOA!" Sonic shouted as he fell. Surprisingly, he wasn't wet. He landed in front of Silver and Maria. Seconds later, Knuckles did too. They were all on a rooftop.

"You took your time!" Maria scolded them.

"Ok now everyone is here, where do we go next?" Silver enquired.

"The highest building..." Maria answered mysteriously.

"Easy!" Sonic shouted triumphantly and took off at a high speed.

"SONIC!" Tails yelled. It was likely that they had to do something at the highest building. Sonic would want to get to the top. Tails spun his tails and flew off in search of Sonic.

Blaze shook her head "Where at the highest building?"

"Round the back, there is a pile of junk." Maria answered. "We'll need someone to operate it..."

Sonic ran in with Tails panting behind him. "Are you coming or what?" Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. He didn't like waiting.

They all trudged over to the back of the building with different thoughts running through their heads.

Silver thought _I wish Blaze didn't have to do this. Shadow said no to do it unless we desperately needed him...I think this is desperate...Maria will probably die of sadness if he doesn't come back...And wasn't Shadow created to be the Ultimate Life Form? He isn't very 'Ultimate' if he's dead! We are going to bring Shadow back even if he isn't happy about it! He really needs something good to happen to him. One minute he doesn't know who he is then he remembers and the whole process repeats! Then he has his memories altered! Shadow needs something good to happen to him sometime soon. Two words to sum Shadow: Tortured life._

Blaze was thinking _It isn't going to hurt...Hopefully. Anyway it'll just be like falling asleep and waking up again. I feel really sorry for Maria and Shadow...Sonic and Knuckles didn't help much...I wish that the next time I meet Silver that we'll have some more fun..._

Sonic thought _I really need some chilly dogs right now...That prison wasn't exactly a five star restraint...Ok, me and Knuckles did act stupidly around Maria...Hmm...Maria...No Sonic! Snap out of it. It's her and Shadow not you and her. After this visit to what's-his-name, ask Amy if she'll hit you with her hammer. _

Tails thought _Hmm...If it doesn't work, maybe I could borrow Shadow's hover shoes to keep up with Sonic. I hope Shadow won't be too upset about this if it works..._

Knuckles stopped for a moment and thought that he should be more concerned about the Master Emerald and guarding it rather than watching Shadow come back to life and two people dying. Why is everyone so fussed?

Rouge was secretly delighted because Shadow would be back and Team Dark would be back. Maria was getting in their way of important things.

Amy wasn't that concerned about Shadow. As long as Sonic was with her, she would be fine.

Eggman wasn't worried about Shadow. He had all his thoughts on the thing he had pulled out of the rubble. He was certain it would hold some use if he wanted to build the Eggman Empire.

"Where do I need to operate it?" Eggman asked Maria when they had found a pile of junk round at the back of the tallest building.

"There should be a panel inside that crate" Maria pointed at the wooden box. Eggman tried to figure out how to open it when it opened itself. He started to press the keys...

Tails noticed something "Hey! You're doing it wrong!" Tails pushed Eggman aside and pressed a different combination.

A tunnel appeared where the junk used to be after a few moments. The party hesitated before going through the tunnel, not knowing what was inside...


	25. Chapter 25 Two for one

**Chapter 25**

The tunnel seemed endless. There was no light, just darkness. Forever darkness. No-one knew if they were going the right way. The only light they had was the glow from the chaos emeralds. Silver decided to fly ahead of everyone to check if there an exit ahead. Seconds later, Silver said that they wouldn't believe it. They all moved as fast as they could to the exit.

The first thing they all saw was a Japanese style bridge with clear waters flowing underneath it at a steady pace. Then there was a dirt path that lead into the cave just ahead. Waterfalls were on either side of the cave. There was also greenery dotted around the place. Everyone swapped looks with the nearest person before entering the cave...

Inside were torches lit the place with eternal fire. There were some stone steps that lead up to an alter. A hooded figure stood in front of the alter. Everyone assumed he was the so called 'Life Swapper'.

He spun around and pointed at everyone in turn while saying in a sharp tone "I have been expecting you... Sonic, Silver, Blaze, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Ivo Robotnik, Rouge, Omega and...Maria." He said the last name softly unlike the other names. "Are you sure you wish to do this? Blaze? Maria?"

Blaze and Maria nodded. They were going to do it and no-one could stop them.

The Life Swapper pointed at the altar "Place him there..."

Maria was still holding Shadow's limp body. She walked up the steep steps and placed him carefully on the altar.

Silver didn't trust this Life Swapper person much. He shoved his way to the front of the crowd and walked up the steps "Will this work?"

"Yes..." The Life Swapper said as he stretched his arms out over Shadow's body. His hands glowed for a little while before sending jets of light onto Shadow.

No-one knew it but Shadow was alive. He was having flashbacks. Flashbacks of the good times. He saw him and Maria in town, him and Maria at the Hidden Lake and at Rooftop Run with Maria when he played tag with her and saved her. He also remembered him saving Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Amy. Then he had one that wasn't a memory. It was Silver, Blaze and Maria smiling. Just smiling. Shadow sat up and saw Maria.

"SHADOW!" Maria shouted and hugged him.

Shadow scowled and pushed her away. She wasn't the real Maria. And how could she be alive? No-one could survive that blast!

"She's real Shadow. When you...died I guess some smoke came out of her mouth. Black smoke." Silver added in case it was important.

Shadow understood. The Reflector was using an ancient ritual to take over Maria's body so she couldn't do anything but still see and feel. A part of him had control over her but he wasn't able to gather any information from her. It was if he had been reborn in another's body. Shadow still had to test her though. It may be simple but it was very likely that she was real. "What was the last thing you said to me on the ARK and what did you make me promise?"

Maria knew the answer "The last thing I said was 'Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog' and I made you promise to protect humanity."

"Did the Reflector do something to you after he grabbed the emerald on Angel Island?"

"Yes...I don't need to go through the details..."

Blaze started to glow. It was as if she was turning into a spirit.

"Blaze?" Silver asked. He had seen this happen to Blaze before.

"Looks like I'm going first..."

"Will you remember?"

"I might do. Farwell Silver!" Blaze said before she disappeared.

"That was abrupt!" Silver decided and looked at Maria. She had started to glow.

"Uh oh!" Maria said. She was doing the same sort of thing as Blaze.

"Don't go!" Shadow shouted knew it was useless. He tried to grab her hand but his hand went straight through her as if she was a ghost.

"Shadow, I'm sorry...Please go back there..." Maria said before she faded away.

"Maria..." Shadow said uselessly. This was the second time he had seen her die.

Sonic walked over to Shadow "Shadow..." Sonic started.

"CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow shouted and Sonic fell.

"HEY!" Amy yelled defensively.

Shadow paid no attention. He walked straight out of the cave and seemed to know where he was going.

Everyone else looked at Silver.

"What?" Silver asked. He had no idea why they were all staring at him.

"Well you decided to brig Shadow back. You're gonna have to explain why you did to him." Rouge answered.

"Fine!" Silver said and followed Shadow out.

Silver found Shadow at the Hidden Lake. "Shadow?" He asked.

"What do you want?" Shadow spat.

Silver tried to think of a reasonable explanation. "Err..."

"I told you not to do it unless you needed me desperately."

Silver looked at the ground "Sorry...Maria wanted to do it more than anyone..."

Shadow looked at the sky "She did say that was her purpose..."

Something caught Silver's eye "What's that over there?" There was a piece of paper attached to a tree.

Shadow walked over to the tree and yanked the piece of paper away from the bark. He read the note:

_Shadow,_

_I am so sorry. The truth is that you never met the Reflector. I put all those memories inside you but it was very complex. He did exist on a different plane and his 'Lord' was called Shadow. Please don't forget the times we've had and don't forget me. One day, we will meet again Shadow. Our paths may cross soon or in the distant future but one thing is clear. You have an important role to play._

_Good luck Shadow,_

_Maria._

Shadow read over at least ten times, before turning to Silver. "Do you know where there are some robots that need destroying? I need to smash something."

Silver and Shadow gave each other a mischievous look and raced each other to Eggman's base.


	26. Epilouge

Epilogue One month later Blaze had come back and said she was back for good. Silver had a party and invited everyone he knew. Even Eggman! He had delicious nibbles and the best wine. Shadow hung at the back with a glass of wine, wishing that Maria was back. Silver read his mind and walked over to him "Shadow... She might come back one day..." "Do you have anything stronger?" Shadow asked, not wishing to talk about Maria "Erm... Vodka?" Silver tried "Poisson..." Shadow sighed walking down quiet city. He was clutching a green chaos emerald in his hand. He just happened to walk past the spot where he and Maria had met a year ago. Shadow froze up and doubled back. He could have sworn that he had saw Maria...What awaited him shocked so much he lost control of himself. Directly in front of him was a yellow hedgehog with wavy blond hair and a blue hair band. She was wearing a blue top and skirt. She also wore blue and white boots. "Hi Shadow. Long time no see!" Maria said with a friendly voice. Shadow dropped the emerald and fell to his knees. "Maria..."He sobbed "Maria..." Maria walked over to Shadow "Shadow...This time I'm back...Back for good..." Well I hope you've enjoyed this. Some of you may be wondering "How did Maria and Blaze come back?" and some things you never find out. Please review. I'd really like some feedback on my first story and how you think I could make it better. Thanks to everyone who have read this from the beginning to the end! Thanks for the amazing feedback in the reviews! There might be a sequel depending on how many people have read this... 


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